The Grief that Does not Speak
by Psychobillybutterfly
Summary: April O'Neil finds keeping the Turtles a secret even harder when she must take in her late brother's daughter. Mixture of all Turtle universes, Be patient with updates
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

We understand Death for the first time when he puts His hand upon one whom we love. ~ Madame de Stael

**Chapter 1 – The Hand of Death**

Death is a messy thing. It may leave some to quietly mourn, while others scramble for the empty tokens of those departed they deem as theirs and still others find themselves at a loss. Eileen was none of those. She knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted her father back. She wanted him back just as desperately as she wanted her mother, dead six years now, to rise from the grave. But with the grace that had come from loosing one parent she moved on. When she walked, she did it slowly with her head low and her mouth shut, most days however, she could only lay quietly in her bed. But this day, an unassuming Monday morning that was bright and calm, she had gotten up early. James O'Neil had died, was in need of a burial and so today was his funeral.

"I'm simply stating that we can't take her, she's unmanageable. God, just look at her, she's a bloody mess. She started acting like this months_ before_ James died. It's either you take her home or she's carted off to a boarding school. Once she's eighteen she can fend for herself," Charles stared down at April. She was at a loss for words, who knew her brother's step-son had such a ruthless side to him. The young man in question stood in front of her somewhat nervously; as though he were afraid she might make a scene and yell at him. Though she was angry enough to throttle the college sophomore, she had more tact than he appeared to have.

"Charles, is this also your mother's wish?" April nodded towards the wisp of a woman sitting in the pew closest to the casket. The petite, blonde woman with a harsh angular face looked like anything might set her into hysterics. From her seat next to the window, April could just barely catch sight of their topic of conversation. A slip of a sixteen year old with the O'Neil red hair and a thread-bareness about her that April didn't recall.

"Yes, in fact it was Mother who has insisted upon Eileen leaving the house. We're all just trying to move on from the tragedy and the girl is just holding us all back," Charles' Bostonian accent sounded foreign as he tried to be diplomatic. But to April's ears the longer the young man went on the stupider he became. April had never liked her brother's new family and thought they were selfish people but never believed that they would stoop so low as to throw out a young, grieving girl. She was thankful that she had already made her decision. She raised her hand to stop Charles before he could continue on his retched diatribe.

"I think it _would_ be best if Eileen came and lived with me. How soon can we have her things ready to be moved?" April couldn't imagine how the poor girl must feel; she should be able to hear the conversation as Charles was making no effort to keep quiet.

Charles couldn't believe his luck. He raised an elegant eyebrow at April; she had agreed to take the child off their hands much easier than he would have thought. His mother, Charissa, had wanted to send her to a boarding school the moment that she and James O'Neil had been married. Unfortunately, the man had had a soft spot for the girl. She had been spoiled completely and was considered an embarrassment to Charissa's side of the family. For this reason, Charissa was willing to have Eileen sent off to an expensive school out of state, but now that the aunt would take her in they wouldn't be financially accountable for her. Charles nearly smiled with glee when the short, red-haired, newscaster agreed. He glanced at her "date", a stocky, shabbily dressed man with long mousy hair who was attempting to talk with his step-sister.

"Her things are already packed, clothes, furniture and such. We were ready to send her off to a boarding school for the summer months. However the destination can be changed easily. We would like for her to finish the last week at Milton, as it is paid for. I think it would be the best thing to not upset her schedule too much," Charles attempted to add concern to his voice as April nodded impatiently.

"I believe the service is starting, we'll discuss this later," April stated curtly before striding over to where Casey sat next to her young niece. She slid in close to her boyfriend who discreetly clasped his hand in hers before whispering in her ear.

"She's not very talkative, but seems like a good enough kid," he indicated the redhead to his other side. The girl's face was covered by her long curtain of hair but April could tell that she was listening to Casey. She leaned forward and placed a hand past Casey and onto Eileen's hand. The girl looked up; her eyes a little shiny, and nodded to April before looking away and at the priest performing the service. The tall man began his deep intonations while the gatherers listened intently.

Eileen, however, only listened half heartedly; her attention was mostly focused on her step-mother. The woman had gone to full lengths in the portrayal of the grieving widow. Charissa wore a new black pencil dress and a black wool jacket with a long veil that was eerily reminiscent of Jackie O during the funeral of J.F.K. Eileen was thankful that she had stopped short of the pert pillbox hat. Her step-mother wiped her eyes with a crisp white handkerchief, her glossy ebony gloves staying flawlessly dry. As the pallbearers were asked to stand Eileen came out of her revelry and went to stand in front of her Aunt April, Charles on her opposite side and her father's lawyer, Phil Fitzgerald behind her step-brother while his other business partners and friends filled the rest of the positions. They all paused to slip on the white gloves and at a nod from the priest they all picked up the heavy casket.

With slow, deliberate steps they carried the coffin down the narrow aisle, the funeral attendees standing in respect as they passed. Like a queen with her head held high, Charissa lead the pallbearers out of the stone church and towards the shining hearse. Once the casket was safely loaded Charles and Charissa gracefully made their way to a stretch limo, Charles seemingly supporting his mother by a dainty elbow. Eileen paused for a moment before sullenly following her step-family to the vehicle. Once inside the door shut hard next to her and made her jump slightly.

"Eileen, I appreciate that you have had the proper amount of decorum to act in a mature way about going to live with your Aunt. I truly had not expected it of you, with your behavior as of late. I had actually thought you would have made some sort of outburst while Charles spoke with her. And do not deny that you were listening to them; I know you're nothing more than a little snoop," Charissa's whole demeanor had changed once the car had begun moving. The perfectly schooled look of grief had disappeared and she now glared down her slim nose at the girl by the door. Eileen looked up into the cold, blue eyes of the woman, her own green ones blazing with indignation. But she remained silent only gracing the elder woman with a nod and clasped her gloved hands tightly in her lap. Charissa snorted delicately at the lack of response and turned her attention to her beloved son.

"You see, Charles, no respect. I give her a complement and she doesn't even think to thank me. _This _is why I can not handle her impertinence any longer," She frowned at Eileen before patting Charles' hand. "She didn't have the benefit of a firm hand, like you, growing up. I guess coming from Massachusetts farmer stock one can only expect so much."

While he had been alive, Jim O'Neil had laughed at such spiteful remarks as jokes. But Eileen always saw them for what they were, direct insults. The man wasn't even in the ground yet and she had begun disparaging him. Eileen sat, clenching her jaw silently, as the two continued speaking irreverently about her late father. The limo rolled to a gentle stop and Eileen, who just had had enough of their step-family's offensive diatribe, jumped out of the car before the driver could properly open the door.

"I hope that the two of you are happy with your new life as I will be with mine," She spat at them in a low voice before making her way to the hearse and her Aunt. The two looked fairly scandalized as Charles helped his mother out of the limo and her face took on her previous melancholy. The six pallbearers lifted the coffin and wordlessly took it to the mechanism that would lower it into the ground. The same priest that had presided over the service at the church was now reciting blessings as the small group of about twenty mourners stood in the shimmering sunlight of early summer. Once the priest had finished the pallbearers all tossed their gloves into the grave. They landed squarely onto the glossy, chestnut coffin. Eileen paused, closing her eyes with a deep breath to push back the tears that threatened her, before she dropped her own gloves onto the casket.

*****

Going back to Milton Academy as though nothing had happened, as though her father hadn't died and her step-mother hadn't kicked her out of her home, was far more difficult than she thought. Though she wasn't well liked by her prep-school peers, she still didn't enjoy the feeling of being even more of a pariah than before. Milton Academy was a highly exclusive school with a small collection of the richest offspring of Massachusetts' best; a place where every family knows the business of every other family. It was much akin to living in a small town as word traveled fast. The last week back had been filled with packing her remaining personal items, refining final papers and taking final exams. While this left little room for anxiety Eileen still found some time before her ballet final to wonder what her life would be like living with her journalist Aunt. She had seen the woman only a handful of times since her father's second marriage and Eileen thought that her step-mother might have had much to do with that, since Charissa was not the most welcoming woman. The girl couldn't stop wondering where she would go to school in New York; would she go to public school or another private school?

"Yes, I heard that Eileen wouldn't be back next year. Rumor is that _Madam _Charissa finally threw her out. Of course, it's true, I heard it from Janice who heard it from their cook," a snide voice came from the opposite end of the room. Eileen lifted her head to see Mary, a skinny blonde with curly hair, talking loudly to a small group of girls.

"Well, I heard that Ellie chose to go live with her aunt in New York. Where else would the best actress and dancer at Milton go, Mary? New York or L.A. is where ya' go ta make it big," Ailani said, her dark eyes holding no malice. Eileen's only friend at Milton, a lanky, Hawaiian girl who towered over her, now stood at the bar facing her as they warmed up together. Eileen mouthed a thanks as the ballet exam began with each student's solo. However Mary did not stop her taunts, whispering them in Eileen's ears.

"What dance will you being doing, Eileen? Hopefully not one of those silly numbers you've made up in your dorm room, they are so dreadfully dull," But Eileen tried to ignore her hoping everything would go well. Each student covered their prescribed steps, but placed little passion into the movements. Mary, her honey colored hair plaited down her back, took a high leap to end her test with a flourish, but it hadn't been in her normal routine and she stretched out her leg too far to land it safely. Ellie saw it in slow motion and almost relished the thud of the overly skinny girl hitting the floor in a tangle of limbs. She gasped with the rest of the students but Ailani and Ellie remained in their seats while the other classmates crowded around the fallen girl. They could hear her crying, and Ailani rolled her eyes. _Drama Queen_, she mouthed to Ellie who tried to hide a smirk.

The ballet instructor, an aging prima ballerina from Germany, instructed two girls who had already finished their exams to aid "Fraulein St. Claire" to the infirmary. Ailani stood to do her solo with one curt nod from Frau Ida. The olive-skinned girl danced to the best of her ability, her arms bent slightly too low, her head held not quite high enough and her almond shaped eyes moving wildly to watch her pacing instead of calmly forward. Eileen always thought that Ailani would have been such a beautiful dancer if she had only let go, let herself be free in her movements, and simply danced. But the Island girl was so stiff and petrified of making a mistake that it caused her to come up lacking in performance. The soft lilting tones from the CD player stopped moments after Ailani ended en Pointe with her left leg stretched far behind her. Her chin was proudly high and her arms in a willowy curve above her head. She looked perfect and Eileen held her breathe as Frau Ida told the girl all she had done incorrectly, but this time around the good had outweighed the bad and Ailani had passed with high marks. The girl grinned at her as they traded spots and Eileen switched the CD to a black disc with spiraling white lettering.

The music started with piano and the soft voice of a young woman. Eileen began stepping forward en Pointe, her arms above her as though she were holding a large invisible ball. Then just as she bunched her energy into a high leap the soft music changed to electric guitars and a heavy bass line. She landed into a roll then stood quickly. She danced with bursts of energy and a passion that the other girls had lacked. Her choreography took not only from ballet but jazz, theater and to Frau Ida's chagrin cabaret. It may not have been exactly what was prescribed but it was fun to watch as the singing reached a fevered pitch so did Eileen's speed. The girl ended the dance, the song echoing its last word, on one knee with the other stretched out in the splits in front of her. Her back was arched and her hands seemed to be grasping at some unknown object behind her.

"Fraulein O'Neil, I wish to see you in my office." Ailani glanced nervously at her as she stood and followed the ballet mistress into the small office. "Eileen, do not have any worries, you passed your exam without flaw. You did all of the moves I asked for in the dance beautifully as you always do. However I can't be having the younger students know I approve of your style. I don't think I can have everyone trying to be you, I could be fired for not teaching the girls actual ballet,"

"I understand Frau Ida, I'm sorry if I've made anything difficult for you," she stuttered. As the older woman took her seat at her old desk she waved a hand in front of her.

"It is not a problem, the real tragedy here is that I am losing my favorite student. I have very rarely seen someone with your passion, Eileen. I can not have you wasting it because you have no proper teacher in New York. I give you this one gift before you leave," she handed Eileen a manila envelope and a business card. It was simply a name and an address, Monsieur Franz: 1324 Franklin St, New York, NY. Eileen raised an eyebrow of confusion at her ballet mistress who only smiled secretively.

"You mail this and Franz will contact you for an audition in his school. Show him everything you have and your place is assured in Juilliard once you are ready to attend. This is the best I have to give you," At Eileen's mystified nod she began to shoo out the young teen. "Now I believe that Fraulein Hino is waiting outside the door for you." Eileen nodded and left with the odd parting gift from her favorite teacher.

"What was that about?" Ailani asked as they walked back to their dorm rooms.

"She wrote me a letter of recommendation for someone who can help me get into Juilliard," Eileen stated.

"Ellie, that's great," Ailani said stopping the girl to hug her, "I guess I can tell you my news then," she said excitement clouding her voice, "I got accepted to their pre-college program!" she said.

"I knew you'd do it," Eileen said, jumping up and down with her exuberant friend.

"Yeah, I'm changing schools, going to the program on the weekends and living with Maila. She just finished her internship with IBM and they hired her for their New York branch, she's working with some guy named Stockman" she said as the continued back to their rooms, "This is perfect, we'll still be together, unstoppable," she giggled, flopping onto her bed and tossed her pointed shoes in the corner. Eileen smiled, a little sadly, as she hung hers in her closet before sitting cross legged on her own bed. "Ellie, what's wrong?"

"It just that I don't know if my aunt can afford to send me take lessons from someone who sounds so exclusive, if he even likes what he sees," She answered with a shrug.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out, just go to the audition, figure out the money later," Ailani grinned, "It's going to be perfect," she looked over at the somewhat wistful expression of her friend and launched herself onto the opposite bed. Pulling the taller girl into a hug, Ailani forced a smile out of Eileen, "Even if you can't go to Juilliard, we'll still be together forever, remember," she stated extending her pinky to Eileen who shook it with her own.

**END of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hand – Anonymous

**A special thanks to everyone whose reviewed and to my Beta Reader Dr. Facer, a real awesome editor and person!**

**Chapter 2 – Apathy's Glove**

The next few days were such a blur of confusion that Eileen didn't fully come out of the spiral until her plane touched down in LaGuradia airport. Once everyone around her started to get up Eileen joined the throng of people trying to get their luggage. After she stood, she tiptoed and quickly grabbed her carry on bag from the top drawer; but just as soon as she was on the aisle, a red haired man wearing a brown suit rudely shoved her aside as he hastily got past her, sending her into the well dressed business man who had been sitting in front of her. The Asian man's eyes flared and he seemed ready to kill for a moment before he actually looked at the young girl's face.

"I-I'm really sorry sir, that guy pushed me, are you okay?" she asked sheepishly as she quickly picked up her dropped bag. He kept quiet for a moment, staring at her while she moved with a curious look in his eyes before he finally spoke.

"I am quite alright, are you okay, miss?" the man asked in a pleasant voice after he glared over her head at the man who had caused the incident. She nodded quickly but he seemed to want more of an answer as he studied her face.

"Yes, thank you, Mr…?" She asked with one brow raised in question.

"Saki, Oroku Saki, at your service. And may I have the pleasure of your name?" He said with a slight bow as they waited for the passengers around them to gather their belongings.

"Uh, Eileen O'Neil," she stated simply as they began moving out of the plane.

"Ah, a relation of April O'Neil, I gather?" he stated.

"Yes, d-do you know my aunt, Mr. Saki?" she asked, her faced screw slightly in confusion wondering how an antiques dealer of her aunt's level would catch the eye of this well dressed man who sat with her in first class. Perhaps it had been during her brief stint as a Action News reporter but that job hadn't lasted long, a letter before Ellie had left from New York had told her.

"Yes, we are acquaintances of sorts. You resemble her a bit, if you don't mind my saying," the man said with an odd chuckle. She smiled back but felt slightly uncomfortable with his laugh, it was one of those laughs nearing maniacal in pitch but still missing the mark with its sanity intact. He indicated her to go ahead of him and they both exited the plane; as they walked through the terminal towards where passengers were meeting their families Eileen got the distinct impression that he was following her with a purpose. That was when he came up beside her and began making conversation with her again.

"So, how long will you be visiting your aunt, Miss O'Neil?" he asked, his voice taking on a quality that Eileen couldn't name but didn't like. She managed to politely smile at him again, she'd dealt with her step-family long enough to trust her acting skills.

"Through the summer at least," she lied easily as she picked up the pace slightly; it wasn't really that she disliked this person, but she wasn't particularly comfortable by him following her.

"I have a daughter about your age," he stated suddenly, his voice taking a more amiably tone as he hastened his pace to keep up, "perhaps you would get along well with her,"

"Perhaps, since you know my aunt I'm sure we'll be seeing one another," she said as she spotted her aunt and her boyfriend.

"I believe we will, Miss O'Neil, I believe we will. Please take my card, should you have need to contact me," he said, a small smile gracing his face as he handed her a small white business card. Her family soon saw her as well and walked over to her. Casey glared at Oroku while April placed her arm somewhat protectively around her niece.

"Mr. Saki," she greeted curtly, her jaw clenched as she took a step backwards. Eileen could tell that the man who had followed her was not liked by her aunt or Casey Jones, and didn't fail to notice how they both glowered at him, with Casey even sneering slightly at the taller man.

"Why, April O'Neil and Mr. Jones, a pleasure as always," he answered, a slight laugh entering his voice. Casey, his eyes never leaving Oroku Saki, began taking Eileen's bags, while April continued to glare at the tall Japanese man. The tension between the adults was reaching a point where Eileen was expecting a fight to break out any moment. She could see the muscles in Casey's jaw clenching as he shouldered her bags and her aunt was starting to grip her arm painfully. They all stared at one another, Oroku's face stoic and completely lacking emotion while her aunt and boyfriend kept glaring with increasing emotion showing on their faces; this got so uncomfortable that Eileen had no choice but to try to break the tension between them.

"Mr. Saki, thank you for seeing me safely to my family. I appreciate your help," she said somewhat overly formally but it got the message across. He nodded with a small smile on his face before he turned to leave.

"Have a good stay in New York, Miss O'Neil," he stated, looking back as he disappeared into the crowd. Once he was out of sight her aunt took her into a tight embrace and in that moment Eileen realized her aunt was trembling in fear. Casey approached them; setting down her bags and placed a hand on April's shoulder.

"It's okay, Ape, baby, nothing happened," he said awkwardly.

"I know, but you never know with that man. He didn't do anything, sweetie, did he?" she asked, stepping away from the girl. She shook her head in confusion, there was so much more to this than her aunt not liking the man.

"No, I'm fine; we didn't even talk until after the flight. He was just kinda overly polite, I guess. That was really weird, what's going on?" she asked.

"For now let's just say Oroku Saki isn't a man we want anywhere near you," Casey said as he began leading them through the crowded airport.

"For now?" she questioned, her tone asking if they would discuss it later.

April nodded and whispered in her ear, "Not here," as Casey hailed them a taxi. April hadn't let go of her hand since she'd asked about Saki and Eileen was beginning to really feel uneasy about her brief time spent in the man's company. While she hadn't been particularly comfortable with him, she hadn't thought he was a dangerous person. But now, as the cab pulled off with Casey in the front seat and her and April in the back, Eileen wondered what was so terrible about Oroku Saki. Deep in their thoughts, the new family rode in silence, Eileen watching the sights of the large city pass her by as they made their way closer to her new home.

The silence was uneasy; Eileen wanted to speak but held her tongue as the taxi moved onward. April felt calmer now, but still held the girl's hand protectively, the man she knew as her friends mortal enemy had been alone with her niece, a girl she was supposed to be caring for and protecting. The moment her eyes had met Oroku's her heart had dropped out of her chest; he had seemed so sure of himself. His eyes were so cold, even colder than they seemed when his face was hidden behind the Shredder's mask; his features and expressions unknown while he fought her closest friends. But Eileen was safe, her hand warm in April's own and she would do everything in her power to keep the girl that way. Meanwhile, back at the baggage claim a red haired man in a crisp brown suit walked up to an Asian man with a smile. They stood next to each other watching the bags go around the carousal, waiting for their own to pass by. Oruko Saki hefted his small, rolling luggage out and paused at the man who had pushed the O'Neil girl.

"Excellent job, Dr. Chaplin," Oruko stated before moving on, leaving Chaplin behind with a smug smile on both their faces.

**End Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the propGerty of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Alright, newly betaed and ready for your reading pleasure. Thanks to my readers, I hope your enjoying my reworking of this story, I sure am. A super special Xmas thank you to Dr. Facer!

_The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, bit of respect and joy in each others life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. - Richard Bach._

**Chapter 3 – Blood Bonds**

The taxi pulled up to a large, three story brick building; the old sign reading 'Antiques' in large scripted lettering that appeared to be freshly painted over the age worn sign. Eileen smiled as she looked up at the old building as Casey and the driver hauled her bags out of the trunk and the sandy haired man settled the fare before shouldering them and trudging into the shop. She liked the look of the shop; with the apartment above, it was homey and the red brick gave it warmth. It was surrounded by buildings of similar size and most were quirky looking shops and galleries, this was a hub of culture and art. There was even a dance studio at the end of the block. April put a hand on her shoulder to garner her attention and then she nodded her towards the house; but before they walked inside Eileen was sure that she saw something on the roof. Probably a pigeon, she thought as she followed the older red head inside.

They walked through the well stocked and organized store before making their way to the back, past the storage room and up a flight of stairs. Casey kept going up a second flight with her bags while her aunt led her to a seating area filled with three large, comfy looking couches.

"I wanted to wait until we got home to talk about what happened at the airport," she started with a deep breath, "You couldn't have known about Oroku, I mean, how could you," she stammered, almost talking to herself.

"Aunt April, you don't really have to tell me. I mean I could tell there was something off about him," Eileen said with a shrug when she noticed how much her aunt was struggling with her words.

"No, I want you to know. You see, I used to work for him, well kind of. He owned the corporation where I worked in the tech department. I found out the hard way that many of the projects I was working on ended up in, well, bad hands. He was selling technology to terrorist groups, basically anyone with enough money. That's when I left that company and took over your grandpa's shop from your dad. I needed a way out, and this was the best one available… ok, it wasn't the only one; you already know I also worked at Channel 6 for a while, right? Anyway, I had to quit being a reporter before you came here so I could put more effort into the shop, and I'm actually glad I did, it's less stressful this way," April paused and looked at her niece attentively, expecting at least a question or two.

Given how vague the information her aunt had just shared, Eileen couldn't help but feel that something was being left out, maybe unintentionally, but she knew she would probably learn everything sooner or later so she only smiled and accepted what her aunt was sharing with her. She was about to say something, but just then Casey came tromping back down the stairs, his heavy boots making loud noises as he descended with a slight grin on his face.

"Looks like your room's all set, kiddo," he announced with a cryptic smile on his face while he pointed at the way to her room with is thumb as he walked to April's side. Her aunt nodded in agreement, indicating she could go ahead and see it. She smiled at them and rushed up the stairs, but had Eileen paused for a moment, she would have heard the conversation between the two.

"Case, I thought we were going to let her unpack," she said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pull her into a hug, tucking her head under his chin. He sighed.

"I know, I know but the guys needed somethin' to do, so Master Splinter sent them up. So I thought they could help out, anyways they did a good job and she can change anything she don't like," he said as she pulled away, looking up at him, her green eyes burning into his light blue ones.

"When did they do all this?" she asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Uh, today, while we were pickin' her up," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"And when did they finish, Casey?" The long haired man swallowed nervously, his girlfriend's hands were on her hips; meaning he was in trouble now. And he had learned early in this relationship to never mess with a redhead who was training in ninjitsu.

"They were still up there when I dropped off the last of her bags," he explained, keeping a hand up as she frantically looked at the staircase, "But don't worry, they made for the roof and are probably back in the sewers by now," April sighed relieved after hearing that and flopped back down on the couch. "You know, we'll have to tell her about them eventually," Casey said, sitting down next to her and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"I know, just not yet, she's been through so much, her father, moving here, dealing with her wicked step-mother," she said with a half-smile at her nickname for that rude woman her brother had somehow gotten married to. Casey lent back and put his arm around her, tenderly kissing her temple as she cuddled at his side. The couple sat like that in silence, enjoying the relative calm while Eileen was on the third floor.

--

With a sideways smile Eileen had trudged up the somewhat steep stairwell. When she reached the top there was a short hallway that ended in another flight of steeper stairs that Eileen figured led to the rooftop. On either side of the hall were two doors, the one on the left had her name, literally, written on it. She had forgotten how artistic her aunt was but the flowing flourishes of her name, painted beautifully on the wooden door, reminded her. It was feminine without being overly girly, it was mature looking and April had remembered her favorite color was green. The other door was a dark, lacquer with some kind of Kanji written on it that she didn't recognize. When she got closer to it she noticed that it wasn't a stencil but was hand painted in carefully precise strokes. She tried that door but found it locked, she grumbled briefly before going into her room.

The room ended up being a small apartment of sorts with a sitting room, a full bath and a large bedroom. She noticed a large, if somewhat dirty window over her bed on the ceiling allowing the early summer sun light into the nearly unpacked room. Someone had taken special care to set up her room; since it was tidy and looked very nice. Her books had been organized by type and in alphabetical order by author, her clothes were hanging in her closet and her computer had been expertly set up. The cords had even been tied neatly with quick ties and she could see an anti-virus program running on the screen. She liked the way it looked, her aunt had somehow picked up on her style and the room expressed that in the odd assortment of antiques and the richly color fabrics, all in varying shades of green. The windows were open, allowing the warm air to circulate and the heavy drapes shifted in the breeze. With a yawn she flopped onto the bed and looked up through the dingy skylight. If she cleaned it she might be able to see the stars at night. She jumped up and grabbed some cleaning supplies she found from under her bathroom sink.

Hauling the bucket of supplies up the steep stairs that led to the roof Eileen squinted against the glare of the sun. The roof was vast, cluttered and she had another sudden inspiration. In her mind this seemingly unused space was perfect. If she simply cleaned up most of the area, added some lights for when it's dark out she'd have enough room to practice up here. Looking around she noticed someone had been using the roof for something, there were old, worn lawn chairs situated in a circle, some folding tables and enough garbage that indicated that those someone's were probably male. She walked around the roof, taking inventory of the things that would need to go and those things that she could use.

Unbeknownst to the newest addition to the O'Neil-Jones clan she wasn't alone on the roof. Casey had been wrong about the boys having made it safely into their sewer home. Mikey and Don had been too curious and wanted a glimpse of the girl so they had all stayed to see if they could see her through the dirty skylight. Now the boys remained silently hidden behind the giant air conditioning unit, its hum hiding any noise the four ninjas made. They watched the young girl going through their stuff, piling garbage, moving chairs and generally messing up the roof. Raph was starting to get annoyed, and she hadn't even been there for twenty-four hours.

"Is she ever going to go back downstairs?" Mikey whined with a whisper. Leo clamped a hand over his younger brother's mouth and shushed him quietly. A sudden noise from the doorway made everyone look in its direction.

"Ellie, there you are," April huffed as she reached the roof, "what have you been doing?" She smiled warmly at the girl, who was covered in sweat and grim. Eileen dropped the fifteenth pizza box she had found into the garbage pile with the rest.

"I was thinking I could practice up here," she said quietly as though she were expecting a harsh reprimand.

"Practice?" April asked with an obviously confused look on her face.

"Dance, remember the last time you came up to see us was for my recital," for a moment Eileen thought of telling her aunt about Juilliard but bit her tongue at the last moment. At the mention of the recital April nodded recalling that her niece had been the lead and remarked about it, the girl smiled sheepishly up at her aunt as the woman surveyed the cleaning the girl had done. It must have taken forever to just locate all the pizza boxes the guys left behind. Suddenly, they both heard a sneeze from behind them. April knew then that at least one of the turtles was still around. She quickly assessed the situation and realized the boys had gotten stuck when her niece had come upstairs. The girl had turned towards the direction of the sneeze and April went into diffuse the situation mode quickly.

"Ellie, you hungry? Casey was craving Asian food earlier and I promised him we'd eat after you were kinda settled, that man's got no patience when he's hungry," she said good-naturedly with rapid fire speed, stepping into Eileen's line of sight and motioning her downstairs. The girl nodded with one last look at the rooftop and went through the doorway that led back into the second floor of April's apartment.

When April and the girl were gone, the boys plummeted one on top of the other out of their hiding spot. They got on their feet slowly and stretched out sore muscles, each keeping a wary eye on the now closed doorway into the O'Neil apartment; once he had all his kinks worked out, Raph smacked Mikey on the back of the head.

"What were ya thinkin', Mikey, ya couldn't hold that in?!" he yelled as they all started to climb down the fire escape on the side of the building.

"Ahhh, come on Raph, it's not as if she saw us!" Mikey whined as they entered the sewer and continued on towards their abandoned subway home.

"Raphael, leave Michelangelo alone, we're all tired," Leo shouted as he led the way home. Raph mimicked his brother quietly but stopped roughing up his orange clad brother. They walked home in silence, each teenager with his own thoughts on the newest member of their family; though she wasn't aware of her status just yet.

**End Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. - Francesco Guicciardini

**Chapter 4 ****–**** Taking Chances**

The boys made it home with the swiftness their training afforded them, entering through the hidden doorway by pulling the correct pipe and walking in silently. The lair was dark except for the soft blue glow from the large television on the room where Master Splinter slept soundly on the couch. The main room was vast, with each of the boy's rooms cropping out in every direction, Leo and Donatello had chosen the bottom floor to be nearest to Master Splinter in Leonardo's case and the Lab in Donnie's. While Mikey and Raph had opted to take the two rooms on the second floor because they were, in Raph's opinion, farthest from Leo and for Mikey closest to the skate ramp they had confiscated from a park that had been torn down recently. Splinter had left the sliding fusuma doors to the dojo, and his own living quarters, open and a few candles could be seen still burning in the dim light. Mikey went to the kitchen to start dinner while the rest of the turtles sat carefully around their father and began watching the television. The rat startled awake once Donnie changed the channel.

"I was watching that," he grumbled as he stretched with a toothy yawn, and not for the first time wondered if teaching the boys the ninja skill of silence had truly been a prudent idea. He had slept right through their entrance and even the sounds of Michelangelo making dinner were muted slightly. His sons laughed lightly before turning The Gilmore Girls back on with only a customary grumble from Raphael. "How did everything go at April's?" he asked Leonardo, he had stopped calling April 'Miss O'Neil' once she had accepted his offer of teaching her the way of the ninja.

"Everything went well, sensei," Leonardo said quickly, avoiding eye contact with his father.

"Leonardo," Splinter stated, his voice deepening slightly, Leonardo's face snapped up and looked his father in the eye.

"We were almost seen, Sensei. It's my fault, I allowed everyone to stay and see the girl. Our dallying nearly got us caught by April's niece even after she specifically told us she wanted to wait to introduce us to the girl. I am sorry, father," he said, his blue eyes slightly watery as though expecting his father's anger.

"Leonardo, I cannot say that I am not worried that a young woman, untrained in our ways nearly discovered you all, because I am. However, I know that when you do meet the girl you will all do your best to make the shock as minimal as possible. Until then, April has asked that we take an extra patrol around her and Casey's home as the newest addition is sure to bring unwanted attention from our enemies," he said as Michelangelo banged around in the kitchen, now aware that his father was awake the youngest turtle was making as much noise as he wanted. Splinter shook his head as his youngest son hummed merrily as the sounds of cooking echoed through the high chamber.

"Yes, Sensei," Leonardo said as Michelangelo called them to dinner.

"Tell me what you gathered by spying on the girl," Splinter asked, his voice filled with humor, while Leonardo served up the rice Michelangelo had set on the table.

"She's very tidy," Donnie stated, picking up his chopsticks with a chuckle. The other turtles laughed along with their brother while the rat raised a brow in question.

"What Donnie means is that she cleaned up the entire rooftop while we were hiding," Leonardo supplied, salting his own plain rice as he waited for Mikey to finish with the fish he was baking.

"I think she was pretty," Mikey stated dreamily as he took the fish from the oven and removed the flowery apron tied around his shell. Raph snorted at his comment, choking on the rice he had shoveled into his mouth. "Well, she is," Mikey pouted.

"Well, yeah, she looks like a younger April," Raph said with a shrug, taking a drink from the cup of sweetened tea in front of him. His other brothers quickly agreed, each recalling their own small, if fleeting, crush on the red haired firecracker. Raph had been the first; falling for her fighting spirit and the spark in her green eyes, Donnie fell for her passion and her creative computer smarts. Leo had longed after her dedication and the speed she learned a new Kata and Mikey… Mikey had seen her laughter and still fawned over the older woman. Each boy had at one time found something special in their first human friend, something special that had often made them stutter or blush in her presence. However, with the introduction of Casey Jones into all their lives they soon realized they had lost their chance with the woman.

"Well, I'm sure April's niece is more than just tidy and pretty, though those are excellent qualities for a young lady," Splinter said as they all tucked into their meals and all conversation ceased.

- - -

Time moved slowly for Eileen but she developed a modus operandi with her new family. She would help out in the shop some days, dancing on the rooftop under either April or Casey's watchful eye and emailed Ailani nearly everyday. The two girls were on the phone at least every other night but they had to wait to hang out until Ailani came back from Kauai where she was visiting her grandparents. Two weeks previous she had mailed the letter given to her by Frau Ida and had received a hastily scrawled note giving her a date and time, July 5th at 9 am, and a place to go, Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. She had gotten her routine down so well she was sure she could do it in her sleep and all she needed now was to get there. Then, if this mystery instructor deemed her good enough she had to convince her aunt how important getting these lessons could be to her future.

July 3rd came, a warm Friday with a few customers milling around the store, Eileen carefully worked at the register while April helped an elderly couple with a large, black lacquer bureau. As her aunt worked, Eileen wordlessly sold small knickknacks and pieces of jewelry, but her head came up at the sound of a familiarly accented voice. April jumped slightly startled at the girl's squeal of excitement and turned to stare as her niece became a running projectile towards the front of the store.

"Ailani!" she shouted, throwing herself at the Hawaiian girl and in true youthful fashion both girls were reduced to incomprehensible words and high pitched squeals.

April chuckled and finished the sale with the couple, thankful that Eileen had taken it down a couple of notches as she went to the front of the store. Although the closer she got she realized that this was the most emotional response she had ever seen from her niece. The two girls were now hugging, and while their jumping had stopped, their giggling had started. April smiled at her niece's friend's older sister and quickly went over to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm April, you must be Maila," she said, shaking the pretty girl's hand. Maila was the opposite of the girl currently hugging Eileen in every way. Maila was quiet where Ailani was boisterous, conservative where her sister embodied the Aloha spirit so well and gentle where Ailani seemed to fight for the air she breathed. She was shorter than both April and Ailani with a head of thick, curly black hair cropped short in a pixie cut that catered to her sharp features; Ailani on the other hand, was tall, her long, lean body hearkening back to her people's warrior heritage and contrary to her older sister, she kept her hair long and wavy, and wore clothes that spoke loudly of tropical Hawaiian nights.

"April, so good to finally meet you," Maila said and smiled warmly, chuckling as the teens rushed over to them.

"Aunt April, can Ailani and I go upstairs?" Eileen asked, the girls were linked arm and arm and both appeared to be barely able to contain their excitement, Eileen was even grinning widely.

"Yes, send Casey down to take your place," she said with a smile, shaking her head with chuckle. The girls ran towards the back of the store and up the stairs into the apartment. Moments later Casey came down and took Eileen's spot at the register, winking at his girlfriend as he finished the paperwork April had started with the elderly couple who had purchased the black dresser. "Case, I'm going upstairs with Maila," she called as she motioned for the Hawaiian woman to follow her.

They made their way up the steps and through the door into the apartment just as the girls had hit the top floor and entered Eileen's room, the door slamming with a window rattling bang. They could hear the girls even through the thickness of the ceiling.

"I appreciate you coming over," April started as Maila sat at the bar attached to the kitchen's island and April went to retrieve sodas from the fridge. The two sat and drank the chilled beverages; April felt somewhat awkward when she realized she didn't have many female acquaintances and wondered just how to navigate starting a friendship with this woman. She mused on whether or not she knew how to have a relationship with a female, all she knew were men, men who all fought to live and now she had to figure out what to do around this woman.

"Not a problem, Ailani has been on my case since she landed about when she could come over. I'm trying not to be overprotective but New York isn't like the Islands, or even Milton; here you can't just go anywhere. I wanted to get to know you and Casey so the girls can be at either of our places without us having to worry. I want us to be friends, especially with Ellie's home life being what it was before she came here," Maila said with a grimace as she tried to find the right words to express her feelings towards Ellie's step family.

"I totally agree; I've been worried about what I can let Ellie do. I mean, yeah, she's seventeen but she's still a kid and never lived in a big city like New York; she doesn't know what's out there," she replied somewhat wistfully, so much so that Maila looked over at April who seemed lost in thought. The redhead suddenly broke from her memories of Foot ninja, mutant turtles, Purple Dragons and smiled at the sharp featured Islander.

"I'm just glad that you and Casey seem so down to earth; Ailani needs that, she's very spirited which is wonderful but sometimes she doesn't think, add that to her age and it's just a recipe for disaster," Maila laughed. April smiled with a nod, Maila seemed much older than she was; April knew she was at least five years the girl's senior and yet Maila made her feel so much younger with the way she spoke. Maila's voice was soft, filled with a gentle wisdom that reminded April of her Sensei, she just seemed so very adult to April; who was just starting to come to terms with being a parent figure.

"Ailani seems to bring Ellie out of her shell," April said, feeling like she had made a huge understatement as another round of laughter came from above them. Maila looked up and chuckled a little before taking a drink from her soda.

"I would say that you're in the honeymoon phase, then," she said with a laugh.

"Honeymoon phase?" April questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure it happened when Casey moved in. A brief period of time, perhaps even months where the person doesn't show the whole of their personality. She's testing the waters, seeing what she can get away with and how you react to her behavior. She doesn't know you very well, you're her family, yes, but she doesn't know you like she knows Ailani or even myself. I graduated about two years after she started at Milton so she got to know me; I know the Ellie you probably haven't met yet," she said knowledgeably.

"Any advice?" April asked with trepidation; she was nervous, everything seemed to be getting along well, she didn't want that to end.

"Let's see, Ellie has a temper, you probably haven't seen it yet or you wouldn't look so surprised," Maila said with a smirk, "If you were to take a look at her school record at Milton you'd find several fights with a girl named Mary St. Claire, all pretty one sided, Mary wasn't known for fighting back physically. In the last year she's managed to ignore the girl but her first few years at the school Mary would bait her quite often. Also, Ellie also doesn't like to be told what to do; I think once her father married Charissa she did everything contrary to what her stepmother said. Although I can't say I blame her, the woman's a viper," she said making fangs with two fingers and pantomiming a snake strike leaving April to giggle at the image.

"So a temper and doesn't like to be told what to do? Sounds like someone I know," April said shaking her head as she thought of a certain green guy in red.

"Well, there's always good for the bad; she may have a short fuse but she's hard working, strong willed and it takes a lot to shake her," Maila stated firmly, pride entering her voice so fiercely that it instantly endeared the woman to April in such a way that the word 'family' entered itself next to her image in her mind. Something Maila had just said stood out to April.

"What do you mean by it takes a lot to shake her?"

"Has she cried, yet?" Maila asked her voice soft, shifting her body to face the red head more. April paused, trying to think back on the past few weeks. Maila was right, she hadn't cried; for a girl who had just lost her father she was awfully unemotional. Eileen was a tad melancholy at times, quiet even but nothing overly emotional. She seemed to throw herself into dancing; practicing for hours on the newly cleaned rooftop, but now that April thought about it her niece was distracting herself.

"She won't, she'll hold it in, until something smaller sets her off. It's what happened with her mother," Maila said past April's musings. Sighing, April put her head in her hands; she didn't know how to do this. She was still filled with a numb pain, a tearing feeling in her gut over the knowledge that she had lost her big brother and now she had to figure out how to get a teenager to deal with the loss of her father as well. In the midst of her thoughts she felt an arm encircle her shoulders and smelled a hint of hibiscus causing her to look up at Maila. "You need to come to terms with losing James before you can help her, you know," she said, her voice taking on a tone that brought forth such strong images of a five foot tall rat that it startled April to look into her chocolate eyes. However, April nodded in agreement and hugged Maila back in a slightly awkward sideways kind of way.

"At least we're not alone in this," Maila said with a smile, "I don't think I could have handled trying to take care of myself and Ailani without help; so, I guess I'm saying we're in this together," she said in a shy kind of way, almost awkwardly and her true age came into light. April nodded and smiled at the younger woman as she went to sit back down. Before they could start talking again Casey tripped through the front door.

"Closed up, that couple is gonna come by tomorrow ta' pick it up with a truck. Thought we could all use dinner so I ordered Indian, hope that's okay," he said sheepishly, running his hand through his long hair. April looked up at him and wondered briefly how she had gotten along without him. Maila smiled and took another sip from her can.

"Sounds good, Case," she said, "Why don't you go bring the girls down," He grinned and ran over to the staircase and took a deep breath but before he could shout April stopped him, "Case, go up and bring them down," she said in exasperation. He smiled ruefully, and trudged up the stairs, his boots clunking heavily on the wooden steps. As Casey climbed the stairs, the sounds of the two girls grew louder as he approached the door. He could hear the girls and something one of them said caused him to pause, his hand raised as though ready to knock but hovered in the air. Leaning in, he listened more closely to what the girls were saying.

"We'll just go while they're still asleep, don't worry, we'll be back before anyone knows we're gone and if they do notice they'll find the note," the Hawaiian girl stated. Casey was confused but he knew teenagers; he was one once, still remembered his own behavior back then and was pretty sure the girls were definitely up to something; with a smirk he finally knocked on the door. He heard a yelp, the thump of someone hitting the ground and Eileen threw open the door, an overly enthusiastic smile on her face.

"Yeah?" she asked, nervous laughter in her voice.

"Dinner's up, Ape says your two should come down," he said, looking down at the girl. They followed him down just as April and Maila were returning from meeting the delivery boy at the front of the shop. The aromatic smells of curry and freshly made naan wafted through the apartment causing the girls to move faster towards the white bags that the women laid on the kitchen table. They ate not in silence but with boisterous laughter and tales from Hawaii and Milton Academy. Later, once the meal was finished, Eileen begged her aunt and Casey to allow Ailani to spend the weekend with them and everyone easily agreed. But only Casey Jones, ex-hokey player and current vigilante, noticed the conspiratorial look between the two teenage girls.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

**Then Grief That Does Not Speak  
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

_Alright, first reworked chapter of the year! Yeah for Fabian, my wonderful Beta! Thanks to his help I've actually started working on new chapters so that when we get done re-editing this there will be new chapters for my lovely readers!_

There is no problem so big it cannot be run away from. - Charles M. Schulz

**Chapter 5 – No Problem So Big**

At six in the morning on that Sunday, Eileen and Ailani were silently dressing in dark clothing, sneakers and getting ready to leave. Ellie finished the note to her aunt, detailing where they had went and when they'd be back, just in case they didn't make it home before Casey and April woke up. She felt guilty but with them making sure she didn't go anywhere all by herself it made her feel as if they feared she was going to be kidnapped by some boogeyman hiding around the corner so, in her mind they were the ones forcing her to be so secretive.

"So, how do we get out of here without waking anyone up?" Ailani whispered, following Ellie out of her room. Ellie held a finger to her lips and indicated that the dark skinned girl should follower her up the stairs to the roof. "Okay, now what"?

"Now we go down," Ellie stated, swinging her leg over the edge of the rooftop and began climbing down the fire escape ladder. When she got to the first landing she looked up to see Ailani carefully climbing down after her. With a smile she continued down until she was in the alley, where a collection of large garbage bins, an old motor cycle with pieces of engine surrounding it and her aunt April's van all filled the narrow space between the antique shop and the apothecary next to it. She waited at the bottom until Ailani quietly made her way down the metal stairs and met her; Ailani's breathing was irregular and a wide grin adorned her face as she bounced on her heels in excitement, but she kept her boisterous thoughts to herself until they were at least a block away before she began giggling. Both girls were so into escaping quietly that neither noticed the man, clothed in shadows, following them into the subway terminal.

The subway was noisy, busy and filled with more people than Eileen had seen in a long time. She held onto Ailani's arm as the train moved onward towards their destination becoming more crowded with every stop. Again both had missed the well shrouded man who was watching them from his seat by the door. Michelangelo had been finishing up his early morning patrol of April's place when he had watched the two girls scale slowly, cautiously down the fire escape. He followed them, thankful that he and his brothers had started wearing clothing to blend in better during the day, and balked only a little as they drifted down with the masses down into the subway system. He pulled his cap further down as the girls scrambled out the car as the doors slid open and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets and followed them out into the early morning day light.

Ailani had found the secrecy of the whole undertaking exciting, even if she didn't see the need behind it. She was always given free reign by her parents, who and had been more than willing to allow her to live with her sister Maila in New York even though the elder girl was only a few years older than her. She was just glad that her best friend, the only girl that she could even stand to be around during her time at Milton would be with her while she attended Juilliard. They walked swiftly, Eileen carrying a large bag as they made their way towards a dance studio.

Mikey continued to follow, flipping open his shell cell to check the time, still far to early in his opinion and quickly sending Donnie a message of what he was doing; that done he shook his head and uncertain as to how to proceed, he simply stalked them into a large building. Mikey's nerves were starting to catch up with him, he wasn't a decision maker like Leo, or an action man like Raph and definitely wasn't a planner like Don. He was the funny guy; the one who was there for a good laugh and he really felt overwhelmed the further they were venturing into the heart of New York. Here the air felt hot, the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing was stifling and he wished he didn't have to cover up so much.

Walking into the studio he leaned up against a column when the Hawaiian girl turned at the sound of the large boots on his feet. Mikey's heart stopped, only for a moment, when he met her light brown eyes. His brothers had told him of Eileen's friend, each brother briefly describing her, but as he looked at her he realized they all had missed the mark. Leo had said she was loud; Raph that she was hyper and Donnie had had nothing important to say about her. But none of his brothers had mentioned that she was so pretty, they just gave him input on the girl's small quirks and personality. Her curly, dark hair was thick and he wondered if it was as soft as it looked. Her face was impish, like a toasted brown fairy and her eyes were a caramel color, rich and thickly lashed. She squinted back at him as though trying to make him out but turned her head back when Eileen started talking.

"We're looking for Monsieur Franz, I have an appointment with him at 9," Ellie told the security guard awkwardly. The old man looked at a clip board at his desk and scanned it silently.

"Your name," he stated his voice a dulling monotone, as he never once looked up at the two.

"O'Neil, Eileen O'Neil," Ellie said. The guard perused his clipboard, checking a box before looking up at her again.

"You're nearly an hour early, Miss O'Neil, but Mr. Franz is always here this early on Sundays. Go down the hall and through the third door on the right. Your friend will need to stay here, Mr. Franz doesn't like a crowd," his voice staying in that same flat, almost annoyed tone as he nodded towards Ailani. She smiled at the old man and turned to Ailani; the dark skinned girl only nodded back towards the way they'd come.

"I'll stay over here," she said, pointing to a comfy looking sitting area over in the corner. Ellie gave her a weak smile as Ailani sat in a large chair and waved her off with a shooing motion of her hands. "I'd wish you luck but you don't need it."

"You have far too much confidence in me," Ellie said, her voice wavering nervously as she turned to go. She walked down the hall and slowly counted the doors, knocking firmly on the third one. It opened to reveal a small man, shorter than even her, balding and decidedly European. He looked at her appraisingly, his eyes sweeping over her dancers frame, pale white skin, green eyes and long auburn hair. He ushered her inside.

"If you are anything Miss O'Neil, you are punctual, I am glad my message made its way to you," he stated in a heavy German accent. She smiled at him but could tell he required no reply to his statement. "So, you wish to dance for me, ya?"

"Yes, sir," she said shyly, her nerves setting fully in.

"Then follow me and show me what you've been taught," he said, leading her towards an empty stage.

Back in the lounge Ailani was covertly watching the darkly shrouded man standing by a column. She could just barely seen his baby blue eyes, wide as she had looked him over, before he had tipped his face downward again. He was a big guy, tall and wide but something about the way he held himself, straight and tense, told her he wasn't overweight; just large. It was odd that in the summer he was completely covered, not a bit of skin exposed. Then it hit her, she recognized his sweatshirt, bright orange but somewhat dingy and worn, he had been sitting by the door in the subway. All the alarms in her head went off, her anxiety levels shooting through the roof as she thought of what to do. He had followed them here, but who was he following, her or Ellie? By the way he kept glancing at the direction her friend went, Ailani would but her best bet on El.

"So, you just going to stand over there until she comes out?" Ailani said, looking over at the guard, who seemed to be trying to ignore her and the guy who had followed them in. She hoped she hide her nerves and making her voice a little louder to carry over the distance.

"What?" he said, his voice cracking as he looked up at her, his blue eyes meeting her light brown ones.

"Look, you've been following us since at least the subway. So are you going to come over here and talk to me or stay with the creepy guy act and try to blend into the walls?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back into the chair in an attempt to look calm and collected. His voice was young, no too deep and Ailani guessed he was probably around her age, possibly older. The uneasy sound of his voice made him seem younger and Ailani was emboldened by his nerves and she patted the seat next to her. "I promise not to bite," she said mischievously. He sat but chose the seat farthest away from the girl, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket.

"Now," she said in just above a whisper, her earlier tone gone and replace by a slightly growling sound, "Why are you following us?"

"Uh, well, see I'm a friend of April and, well…" he started, stumbling over his words before she put up her hand and interrupted him.

"Wait, you know Ellie's Aunt?" She asked, her voice squeaking as he nodded, "Have you called her? Does she know where we are?" she said in rapid fire succession, not giving him a second to answer a single question. She looked severely agitated, running her hands through her loose hair and looking back towards the way Eileen had gone.

"Calm down, dude" he chuckled, "I'm just watching out for you guys. Haven't called anyone," he paused, "yet," his last words hung in the air between them, a step away from being a threat, though his intent was merely to make a statement of fact. Ailani nodded, leaning forward, covertly trying to glance under his cap to see his face. The man dipped his head lower to hide his features, not for the first time today thinking he was a terrible ninja. A pretty girl tells him to sit and he obeys, right in broad daylight with another human standing not ten feet away. He felt stupid but knew that he was too far in to back down now. She sat back with a sigh and glanced down the hallway in the direction Eileen had gone.

"Well, I'm Ailani, what should I call you?" she asked her eyes still trained down the hall.

"Mikey," he stated. Ailani turned her face back towards him but he had disappeared. Her heart skipped in her chest, her mouth went dry and she looked around frantically but her was no where to be found. She was about to ask the security guard if he had seen where the man in orange had gone when Eileen came racing down the hall.

"Whoa, where's the fire, red?" she asked, placing her hands on the taller girl's shoulders. Eileen's face was ashen, all color drained from it, her green eyes taking on an eerie quality because of it. She was breathing heavily and looked quite shaken; Ailani gave her a moment and lead her to the chair the mysterious Mikey had been sitting in. After a moment Eileen took a deep breath and looked ready to cry, "It went that badly?" Ailani said.

"No, it went that well," she answered and Ailani looked at her with confusion in her eyes, "He wants to meet with Aunt April to talk about where we go from here,"

"Okay, so how's that bad?" Ailani said incitement in her voice.

"Because she doesn't know we're here. If he talks to her then she'll know that we snuck out," she said her voice gaining urgency with a high pitched squeak at the end of her sentence.

"Oh," Ailani's eyes becoming wide with comprehension.

"Yeah, oh," she said sarcastically.

"Well, then we need to get going back then and hope he hasn't called yet," the Hawaiian stated as she grabbed the redhead's arm and pulled her back outside where they made a run for it towards the subway. The stairway down was full of people going up and coming down, slowing their descent considerably. The longer it took to get through the terminal and onto the subway car the further the two girl's anxiety began to overwhelm them. Mikey still followed them, sticking to the shadows this time and jumped onto the roof of the car before anyone saw him. He loved doing that, it was the closest he'd ever come to surfing, balancing on the cool metal as it sped through the underground.

Inside the subway car, Ailani was busy trying to keep Eileen calm and wasn't succeeding very well. To the discerning outsider Eileen O'Neil was the perfect example of a composed individual; when in reality she was panicking so fully her best friend had to keep reminding her to breathe. She could hear Ailani talking, something about a guy named Mikey but she was a wreck and couldn't concentrate on the words. Her hands were shaking slightly so she hid them in her pockets, and her lower lip was becoming raw as she bit it in a rhythmic pattern. She was so engrossed in her nerves that when it was time to get off the train car Ailani had to pull her back into reality and get her moving again.

"Three blocks and all we have to do is find a way to get back up the fire escape," Ailani pant as they ran, dodging around the mid-morning crowd. They rounded the corner back into the alleyway and found the ladder already down, tied to a piece of Casey's motorcycle to weigh it down. Eileen didn't pause to consider their luck but started to climb the side of the building as fast as she could and still remain relatively silent. Ailani, however, looked around and spotted out of the corner of her eye an orange sleeve disappearing into the shadows. "Thanks, Mikey," she whispered loud enough for him to hear and rushed up before he could respond. He just watched them until both girls were safely over the wall and was about to leave when Ailani looked over the edge one more time and spotted him crouching by a sewer lid. He watched her as she squinted down at him, waved and blew him a kiss before disappearing completely. He took that moment to remove the lid and escape down into the sewer before she could look again.

The girls took off their shoes before going down the staircase and tiptoed quietly down into her room. Ailani followed Eileen so closely that when the taller girl stopped upon entering her room Ailani ran full force into her back. She was about to complain as she glanced around and saw Casey Jones sitting in Eileen's computer chair, his feet up on her desk, his arms crossed over his chest and Ellie's note from Franz in his hands.

"Well, get in here an' close the door before Ape wakes up and we're all in trouble," he said, his voice quiet. Ailani quickly shut the door and both girls sat on the bed when Casey indicated for them to do so. "Now, I see this going one of two ways. One: April and Mai find out you went out and we're all miserable for months. Or, we can tell her I went with you two and we're all happy," he took his feet down and lent forward to engage the girls. They looked at each other, Ailani shrugging her shoulders; it was up to Eileen, her choice what to tell him.

"Why would you do that?" Eileen asked. Casey smiled his teeth white and more even than any hokey player Eileen had ever seen.

"Well, see, I just got a call from a friend of mine named Mikey and he says I should help you guys out," he stated and looked at Ailani, watching her for a reaction. And he got one, just one he wasn't expecting; the girl blushed and darted her eyes to the floor. Eileen searched her brain, the name sounded familiar and from the look on both Casey and Ailani it was important. But she let it go and nodded at Casey; agreeing with his plan.

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Tearless grief bleeds inwardly. - Christian Nevell Bovee

**Chapter 6 – Grief and Wild Tears**

True to his word, Casey had told April that he and the girls had slipped out in the early morning hours so that Eileen could audition for Franz. All had gone well, the adults making up a schedule for Eileen to see Franz on Saturdays so that when school began again in the fall she could continue her studies with him. However, as the weeks went by Eileen noticed an increasing tension between the two adults in the house. Casey was spending more time out at night; coming home bruised and her aunt was working more furiously to expand the shop. She hadn't known what to do when she heard her aunt and Casey fighting about money; the lack of which was creating a large rift between the two. She had never wanted to be a burden on her aunt but the alternative was worse than she even knew. So one afternoon when the couple had just gone out on their monthly date Eileen felt the frustration of the past few days release once she had dialed her father's lawyer's number. As it rang she took a seat and a deep breath.

"Mr. Fitzgerald's office, how may I direct your call?" The nasally voice of Philip Fitzgerald's secretary came after the third ring.

"Hello, Janene, this is Eileen O'Neil, is Phil in?" She asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"Oh course, Miss O'Neil, Mr. Fitzgerald just came back from a meeting. I'll see if he can take your call, can you hold for one moment?" Before she could even say 'yes' she found herself listening to the lilting sounds of Michael Bolton when she was put on hold. As she waited Eileen lay back on her bed, looking up at the colors the setting sun made on the sky above her. She waited about three minutes before hearing the telltale click of being taken off of hold.

"Ellie O'Neil, how are the tropics treating you?" Phil Fitzgerald asked in a jovial voice. Ellie's brow wrinkled in confusion before she sat up and began talking.

"Phil, what are you talking about? I'm not in the tropics, I'm in New York," she stated.

"Why are you in New York? You should be in the Caribbean with Charissa, that's what my paper work says. Your step-mother told me she was taking you with her on vacation so you two could reconnect, to get along better," he began to sound more confused than she was. But Eileen knew her step-mother and worked out the situation faster than the Harvard graduate lawyer on the other line.

"Phil, I've been living with my dad's sister, April, since school got out. Charissa had Charles basically force her to take me. She didn't tell you did she?" Her voice was slow, and held a trace of the anger she felt.

"No, she didn't," Phil said, his voice seething, as he stumbled over his words, "She's, she's been lying to me for months, for months! Telling me you're out with friends and that you can't talk every time I call. I, I should have tried harder, Ellie, and I'm sorry. I've been neglectful in my duty to you, as your lawyer and as your father's friend."

"Phil, why would she do that, Charissa doesn't do things that aren't beneficial to her. Is she profiting from you thinking I'm still living with her?" She asked, even though she knew the answer was yes.

"Damn," he swore in a whisper, "she gets a monthly stipend of $10,000 extra for having you." Eileen couldn't believe it, well, she could. But if she just had Phil send the money to her aunt everything would be fine; she could stay here without being a burden. She wouldn't get her trust fund until she was eighteen and then only half of it until she was twenty-one where the full amount would be given to her but that much extra would pay for her lessons with Franz and probably send her to the same school as Ailani with some extra left over.

"Phil, what will it take to get that money to my aunt?" She asked, sitting up and walking downstairs to the main floor of the apartment. She heard Phil shuffling through papers taking lowly to himself as he was want to do.

"Some paperwork, a signature, proof of where you are, proof that you're enrolled in school for the next year and I'll have the checks redirected to your aunt. Ellie, I' really wish I had known this," he paused, obviously looking for the proper words, "change of circumstance sooner," he stated, Ellie could almost see the pudgy man taking of his glasses at that moment, his eyes sincere and face set in determination. "I want to get this taken care of before your step-mother gets back, that way you can get at least one check before she tries to fight it. Is you aunt home or does she have a fax number that I can send the papers to?"

"One step ahead of you, Phil," Ellie said, reading off the number from April's home fax. They continued the conversation, simple pleasantries between two people who where going through an awkward time, until the papers finished printing out of the fax. "I'll get these back to you soon, Phil, call me if anything changes on the home front," with his affirmative she snapped her phone shut and climbed back up into her room, paperwork firmly in hand. Tossing both the stack of crisp, white papers and the cell phone on her bed she continued to the door at the end of her room and threw it open. Trudging up the stairs she slammed up onto the roof with a heavy sigh.

Raphael had taken over Donnie's night to watch over April's apartment and he was thankful for the warmth that summer now afforded the nights. He had taken the techie turtle's night in order to gain a three day, no patrolling weekend. And he had just finished checking all the windows, peering in to check for danger and all was quiet. April and Casey would be home in two hours and the newest addition to the O'Neil family was now pacing her room with a cell phone in her hand. He watched her from the skylight in her room, careful to keep hidden, and took a pack of cigarettes Casey had bought him out of his jacket and lit one up.

But he dropped his cig and barely managed to slip behind the large air conditioner when he heard heavy steps coming up the stairs to the roof. The girl looked haggard, and furious, an emotion he emphasized with greatly. He watched silently as she stalked over to the edge of the building and began pacing up and down the rooftop. Her breathing became more and more irregular as she whispered obscenities under her breath; unknown to the girl, Raphael's superior hearing caught most of her tirade and he inwardly congratulated her on her extensive vocabulary. Suddenly, she looked down towards the alleyway that contained his entrance to the sewers and the garbage for the surrounding buildings and took a deep breath and screamed with everything her petite frame had. Raph had to admit it was a pretty impressive sound; he had started a little when the extreme show of emotion had begun but couldn't say he'd never done the same thing before.

He started to feel a little bad about invading her privacy when she turned from her onslaught of the city to slide down the wall, her knees tucked to her chest, tears trailing down her face. She stared blankly into the distance as she cried for the first time in months. Whenever he had to watch April's the girl never showed much emotion, she was quiet, withdrawn and worked a lot on her lap top. In Raph's opinion she was Donnie without the gadget making or she was with the pretty girl Mikey had dubbed "Lovely Lani" but Raph had managed to get out of this duty more often than any of the other brothers so he really couldn't say what she was like for certain.

Ellie stood, finally wiping her eyes and making her way across the dark rooftop, stopping at the still open door back into the building. She stopped when she smelt something odd. The rooftop normally had the smell of open air, of city air, heat and cement, but she could distinctly smell menthol cigarettes, freshly burning. Her hand left the knob of the door and she found the smoldering butt by the air conditioner, she picked it up and saw that it was only half way burnt down. She dropped the cigarette and after grounding it with the heel of her sneaker, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Is someone up here?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly as her eyes flashed and danced about the roof. The area was filled with the dark shadows of impending night and held plenty of locations for someone to hide; she walked over to the center of the roof again, looking into every shadowed place. Raph knew he was screwed; he couldn't move without alerting her and she was getting closer. Shrinking down as small as he could, going into the shadows, he held his breath as she came around the air conditioner. Seeing no other way out, he made a quick and possibly rash decision; he spoke.

"Babe, don't move any closer," he warned, the sound of his voice brought a halt to her movements and she tensed even more. She gasped, realizing she was only a few feet from some guy who had just watched her whole explosive tantrum.

"Who are you? What the hell are you doing up here?" she growled. He chuckled, girl had some balls, he'd give her that. His laugh, however, only incensed her more and she took a few more steps forwards. "I asked you a question," she ground out, "you find that funny?" she asked and as she continued closer Raph made another rash decision and rushed past her, knocking her over in the process. But she was quick, quicker than he would have imagined. As she fell she twisted and managed to grab a hold of the back of his trench coat belt. It was enough to bring him down with her. Raph tried to roll away but realized she had a good grip on him and so he ended up taking most of the fall.

He lay there on his stomach with a surprisingly strong girl scrambling over him. Confused by her movements he tried to push himself up but he suddenly felt her knee on the back of his neck, the pain halting his attempts at standing. Most of her weight remained on his shell but just enough of her was bearing down in the vulnerable spot right at the base of his skull that it stopped any plans of escape.

"Now, Trench Coat, let's try this again. Name and why you're spying on me!" she shouted, punctuating her words by grinding her knee a bit into his neck. Raph grunted and was more than a little thankful for his hat, the darkness and that his shell was protecting his spine.

"Name's Raph, wasn't spyin', now get off," he snarled attempting to dislodge the girl on his back by doing a push up. She again caught him off guard by not only wrapping her long legs around his waist but nearly suffocating him in a head lock at the same time. Her face jarred forward, hitting something hard and sharp under his coat. She gasped in pain and tightened her grip around his neck. Eileen flicked her tongue out licking some of the warm blood flowing down her chin and felt grateful her teeth hadn't chipped as the cut continued bleeding.

Ellie was quickly running out of options, she was outclassed here by a bigger, stronger guy. As he began to stumble with her on his back she could feel that strength as he started to pry at her arms. She knew then, as his hands dug painfully into her arms, that she should have let him go and not let her anger at being caught crying led her into a fight she couldn't win. But she hadn't thought, she had reacted and now she was too afraid to jump off his back and run. Just as he was about to release her grip on him Eileen heard Casey call to her from her room. Seizing her opportunity she took a deep breath and screamed Casey's name with everything she had.

Her scream did more than alert Jones to her predicament, it did something to the guy she had a hold of. He lost his grip on her, the sound startled him so, and he ended up on his knees. The fall jarred her forward but didn't unseat her as Casey burst through the door. He stood in shock as to what to do, on one hand his best friend was being chocked yet on the other his girlfriend's niece was pretty close to discovering a mutant turtle.

"Case," Raph sputtered, "Help," his voice was weak and strangled for obvious reasons. Seeing that Raph was indeed not fighting back to his fullest potential Casey opted to aid his friend and started pulling Eileen's arms off the turtle. The girl kept her hold on the larger male but Casey eventually got her to let go.

"What the hell, Casey!" she shouted as he held her back and Raph turned around, rubbing his raw throat. Just as he finished his turn to face them, Eileen used Casey as leverage and lifted herself into a kick; her heel landing square onto Raph's jaw sending him reeling backwards, his fedora flying off. In that moment, Eileen got a good look at him and she stopped fighting, she just stopped, and Casey released her carefully.

"Holy shit," she said quietly. The silence that followed was encompassing, the only sounds between them were each person's raspy, heavy breaths. No one moved, they only stared at each other; Eileen at the turtle laying on the rooftop before her, Casey at Eileen, gauging her reaction. And Raphael watched both the humans not knowing what to do. He finally contented himself to glare at Casey, his look pleading with him to make the next move; if the girl would stop looking at him he could play the ninja and get the hell out of here, let Casey do damage control, but Raph didn't think she'd blinked the entire time. Suddenly, Raph moved his attention to the sounds of running boots on stairs as April emerged from the apartment to the scene they had created.

"Oh, shit," she said, her eyes wide. It was an interesting tableau; Raph, a large turtle, laying helpless on his back and clutching his jaw; Eileen, her posture ridged, her lip bleeding heavily and a deep bruise forming on her chin and Casey in the middle as though he were some kind of mediator between the two.

"My thoughts exactly," Casey replied, running his hands through his hair. He went over to Raph offering his hand to the young turtle. With a grunting heave Casey pulled up the taller turtle. Then all three turned their attention to the teenage girl who had suddenly started breathing heavily as though her body had just remember its need of air. Her jaw was clenched and she had yet to take her eyes off Raph, her split lip still bleeding.

"You're hurt," he said simply, his amber eyes boring into her own.

"I know," she whispered, her voice ragged, her hand going to her chin as she suddenly become aware of just how badly she was bleeding.

"Alright, everyone down stairs, living room," April shouted, pointing to the door back into her apartment.

**End Chapter 6**

AN: Dundundun, cliffy! You want more don't you...I'll update as soon as I get two reviews for this chapter! Oh and the Title was taken from the poem "When I Must Leave You" which can be found at .com/Bereavement_Poems_by_Unknown_Authors


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Okay, I'm back, I hope you didn't think I was gone, dead or vanished. I've never been without the Internet for so long. We moved in February and just got the Internet on Wednesday, so here, thanks to Fabulous Fabian is the new and improved chapter 7!

_History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances. - Donald Creighton_

**Chapter 7 - A Record of Circumstance**

The three dutifully marched down the two sets of stairs into the living room and April set to gathering her small first aid kit from under the kitchen sink. When she tried to assist the girl in wiping up her face Eileen shied away, grabbing the hand towel and began moping at her chin before accepting the ice her aunt offered. The whole time she fought silently with April, Raph smirked at the girl's spirit. He had to admit, though never out loud, that he was impressed by her, she had not only given him a deceit fight up on the roof but had also not screamed, fainted or used his least favorite word, "freak". Once April had given him a quick once over, they all sat in a circle, staring at each other before April took a deep breath.

"What were you two thinking, how did Ellie end up with her lip like that, what did I tell you about being up on the roof at night without one of us with you?" she shot at Ellie but she didn't pause to give the girl time to answer, "And you!" she rounded on Raph, "I've told you to be careful when you come over here until Ellie's ready to meet you guys! What if you'd been seen or hurt? God, what if we hadn't come home early?" she kept going, her voice rising as though she didn't expect an answer from either teen. While Eileen looked away once April started yelling, Raph started to look angry. But the moment April brought up the point of Raph being more careful and Eileen being ready for something they both began speaking over April at the same time.

"Hey, I was only doin' Donnie's job, he was supposed ta be watchin' out for you guys tonight!" Raph jumped up, his arms crossed over his plastron.

"What do you mean until I'm ready? When, exactly, were you going to tell me about him?" she shouted pointing her thumb at the scowling turtle. April took a step backward at the angry onslaught, not ready for the righteousness in both their voices. Both teens were now looking at each other oddly, Raph with a grudging respect and Ellie as though she was seeing more than just a turtle.

"Why do we need watching out for?" Eileen asked softly. Raph looked to April, who put up a hand to stop him from explaining further.

"It's a long story," Casey supplied lamely.

"I've got a time, I'm not going anywhere," she said shrugging her shoulders, sitting back down and putting the ice back on her swollen lip. Everyone else sighed deeply. April looked to Raph, as though asking his permission.

"Not just my story, Ape," he said before situating himself into Casey's roughly worn, brown recliner. April sighed again, rubbed her temples, and walked to the phone in the hallway. Picking it up she began to dial a number. Eileen looked to Casey in question but the long haired man just shrugged. She then moved her attention over at the turtle that still had on the tan trench coat from earlier. There was a dark purple bruise forming on his jaw where she'd kicked him. Thinking for a moment she made eye contact with the amber eyed turtle. He raised a brow ridge at her in question before she spoke quietly.

"Sorry I kicked you," she said simply, he smirked a little before speaking himself.

"Eh, no big deal, I've had worse. Ya've got good aim on ya though, and a bit of power too," he chuckled as he looked away from her.

"It's the ballet, dancer's legs," she said simply and Raph chuckled again.

"Maybe we should have Mikey take ballet, the girl's kicks are better than his," he remarked to Casey who laughed in reply.

"Mikey? Ailani's Mikey?" Eileen asked looking between the two of them. Raph smirked at the way she'd asked her question, as though her friend somehow owned his youngest brother. Though the way Michelangelo had been talking about the Hawaiian girl you'd think they were dating. The sound of April's murmuring drifted down the hall was the only sound made after Eileen's unanswered question. Snippets of her conversation could be heard and Eileen turned to look down the hall and strained to hear her.

"Fine, she might be in shock, but I really don't think so, Donnie. Yeah, please, could you get him?" she paused, leaning up against the wall as though she were waiting for someone on the other line. Finally, her face broke into a toothy smile, "Master Splinter, Donnie told you about the situation? Good, I just wanted your opinion on how to proceed. Yeah that's fine, ten minutes, okay, see you," she hung up the phone with a sigh.

"Well?" Ellie asked.

"They're coming here," she stated as she entered the room again.

"Okay, whose 'they'?" Ellie asked, frustration evident in her voice.

"My family," Raph said, his arms crossed as he placed his feet on the large, glass coffee table. April, on her way back to her seat next to Casey, smacked his legs down. They all sat, once again in silence, the awkwardness growing between them as Eileen began to squirm.

Minutes passed by while April started to fuss over the darkening bruises on both the teen's faces. Raph groused but deep down Eileen was suspicious that he actually may have enjoyed the attention. He sat there, his arms crossed trying to pull his face away from the small woman, grumbling about being babied but his heart didn't seem to be in it and his eyes softened as she pressed a bag of frozen peas to his jaw. When it was her turn she simply sat through it, just glad that the bleeding was under control now; though she did notice that the swelling had increased. Casey had returned to the kitchen to get more ice for Eileen when there was a commotion from upstairs that drew everyone's attention to the stairwell.

"Guys, just come straight down," April called up. Eileen sat forward on the edge of the couch, not knowing exactly what to expect until a green leg entered into view and she glanced over at Raph.

She found his golden gazing unnerving and could tell he was measuring her reactions. She smiled awkwardly at him, only to wince in pain as the split in her lip reopened and began to bleed anew. The look on his face changed briefly, his brows knitting together and his eyes darkening softly, nearly undecipherably, before taking on a look of passivity again. She reapplied the dish towel to the bleeding wound as three more turtles entered the room. Each was of varying heights, shades of green, differing builds and were slowly taking seats around their brother. A voice cleared near her and she looked up and to the right to find a five foot rat dressed in a Japanese Obi standing next to her. It took everything she had to not jump, squeak or let any of her surprise show on her face. She tried to remain calm but her mind was already in overload and this seemed to be the last straw. Everything hinged on her reaction to this rat, she knew it as she shifted her glance over to April and Casey, both of whom were watching her with similarly expressions of nervousness.

"Hello, Miss O'Neil," he said with a distinct Asian accent, offering her a short bow and what could pass as a toothy smile that she suddenly found she wanted to return as a calmness seemed to enter her body and she took a deep breath. She removed the towel from her face and the rat frowned at what he saw.

"Hi," she whispered breathily. But his frown only deepened and he turned towards Raph.

"Raphael-san, what has happened here?" he said roughly, indicating her face. The turtle clenched his jaw and shrugged his shoulders before inspecting the hard wood floors with great interest.

"They kind of got into a fight," Casey offered with an anxious air.

"Raphael, you fought an unarmed, _human_, girl?" the rat continued, his anger starting to show in his voice. Raph started to say something when Eileen broke into the conversation.

"I started it, he didn't do anything; I cut my lip on something when I jumped on his back. It's okay though, I did kick him in the face so I guess we're even," she said, trailing off once the rat's attention was fully on her again. His black eyes made her feel like a wayward child. The shortest turtle, his blue eyes dancing with laughter, snickered at her mention of her attacking the taller, larger turtle.

"I think it was my shell," Raph said gruffly, his cheeks tingling red with embarrassment. The rat shook his head with a deep, long suffering sigh as he took the comfortable looking chair opposite Eileen and next to Casey and April. She noticed, once he had made himself comfortable that the chair was just the proper height so that he could sit back and still have his feet on the ground. It was as if the old chair was specifically made for him.

"Miss O'Neil, I have come to understand that the women of your clan are highly spirited and…" he seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "…quite agile fighters, I would ask that, in the future, you don't engage any of my sons in a physical fight as they are highly trained warriors," he said, his hands folded in his lap, his crooked cane leaning against the chair's arm. Once she had nodded he looked around at everyone else in the room before continuing, "Please tell me what you know, it will save us the time of my repeating myself," he stated mater of factly, his voice soft, even and kind.

"Well, um, four talking turtles," she said with a stutter, pointing to the four in question, "and one talking rat, beyond that nothing really," she shrugged.

"A good start, an empty slate is probably the easiest. I will begin with introductions then I will ease your curiosity by telling you what we are and how we came to be. How does that sound to you?" The rat paused turning to April. The older redhead nodded, sitting back into Casey's arms.

"My name is Splinter and these fine boys are my sons, the eldest, Leonardo," the turtle who had chosen to stand, his light green eyes making contact with her own, bowed in a manner similar to his father. This turtle was thinner that Raph but still muscular and had two swords crossing behind his back, "next in age is Raphael, who you know," he remained sitting, but nodded at her when their eyes met. She gave him a lopsided smile, so as not to reopen her lip again. "Next is Donatello," this turtle, his dark brown eyes dancing with humor, smiled at her and nodded, "and lastly my youngest, Michelangelo," Mikey waved enthusiastically at her with a big grin on his face, his baby blue eyes sparkling with excitement. Ellie found she couldn't help but return his smile, however carefully once the pain began again.

"Now, our story is long and it begins in the ninja underworld of Japan. I was born Hamato Yoshi, a human man, like any other. My parents were farmers, poor but kind and when I was six years old I was chosen to go to a monastery to study Ninjitsu. Years went by and when I was twenty-four I surpassed my Master, taking over the ancient clan of the Foot," when he paused he noticed the look of confusion on the young girl's face, "You have a question?"

"Yeah, are you talking about the same Foot that works out of this city?" she asked, recalling something about a gang with the same name she read in the newspaper; at his nod she continued, "but they're nothing more than masked thugs," she said incredulously.

"True, they are now but that was no always so, young one. Once they were proud and honorable before leadership of the Clan was taken from me by a young upstart of royal blood calling himself The Shredder. He wore a fierce costume of razor sharp blades, and had the habit of cutting his opponents to ribbons. The Shredder gathered enough support to banish me from the Clan. He felt that it should be helmed by someone of superior birth, that it was his right to lead. I fled to the safety of New York; a city where anyone can disappear if they so wish it. However, growing up in a monastery did not prepare me for the outside world. My skills were limited and I was soon living off the street, fighting off rats for every meal," again he paused, his black eyes sad and his whiskers twitched in old memories of frustration.

"Then, one day news of The Shredder came to my ears, he had brought the Foot to America. I felt I had my chance to regain my lost honor and the honor of the Foot. But I was sorely mistaken, he had grown strong, too strong and I could not defeat him alone. When he had finished making an example of me; he had some young initiates dispose of me in the sewers thinking it was a fitting for a man of low birth to meet his end. But I did not die, though I was badly injured, I was still alive. I lay in the sewer, bleeding for hours, days, I still do not know how long. But each passing moment I grew stronger, I felt different, then in a moment that changed everything a box fell down a grate and slide next to me as I lay there. It was a small, cardboard thing, with tiny holes poked in it. I cried out as I moved my arm and sat up; my wounds were scabbed and my body ached. Once I was sitting I noticed that I had been dumped in a green sludge that I then mistook for sewer slime. Once I was leaning on the wall I opened the box and found four tiny baby turtles. I spilled them out into my lap and soon they too were covered in the slime. As the days past and I began to recover I moved from that spot and took my newfound companions with me. I found a refuge in a subway station, a place that was abandoned after a cave in years before. I lived there with my turtles for two weeks before I started to notice the change in them; they were growing at an alarming rate and they weren't the only ones changing," he paused, taking a deep breath, running his clawed hand through what could be considered a long goatee before continuing.

"I first took the changes in myself as adjusting to living below ground. My hearing had become sensitive and my night vision was increasing everyday. I finally noticed, one day as I passed the glass door of a battered subway car that I was turning into a giant rat. As months went by the boys grew, in body and mind, and within six months they were like small human children, like babies. Their growth slowed for a time and they aged like normal children and I treated them as my own. I trained them to be honorable ninjas and they have learned much," here he stopped as though waiting for something. Ellie was dumbstruck; if the products of the story weren't sitting right in front of her she never would have believed such a tale.

"You must have many questions, ask, and we will all do our best to answer them," Splinter stated, leaning forward and steepled his hands together, indicating that Eileen now had the floor.

**End Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

_I live!! Thanks to Fabian for talking time out of his schedule to go through my humble fic and point out to me my mistakes!_

One of the sublimest things in the world is plain truth. - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

**Chapter 8 – Revelations**

Eileen felt the urge to bite her bottom lip but the minute her teeth scraped over her wound she thought better of it and simply crossed her legs under her so she was sitting on her feet. The turtles and their rat father sat in silence, all eyes on Eileen waiting for her response. She took a deep breath and a pause to release the air from her expanded lungs before she finally spoke.

"It's a lot to take in," she stated, pausing with a sigh, "and that's probably the abridged version?" she asked, the rat inclined his head in agreement, encouraging her to continue. She thought for a moment before a question formed in her mind, "'Kay, first when did you and Casey factor into the equation?" she directed her inquiry to her Aunt.

"Well, I met the boys about four years ago, about the time the Purple Dragons started asking for safety fees from the shop-keepers. I refused to pay and they sent a small gang to teach me a lesson. I was in the alley at the time and I heard them breaking the front windows. A few of them came around the side and spotted me before I could make it inside. The boys had been making rounds and heard me scream. They took out the whole gang and sent them packing," she said with a chuckle before Donatello interrupted her.

"Although she fainted once she got a descent look at her heroes," he stated with a slight shrug to his shoulders.

"So, you've got one up on her already, you tried to beat up a turtle instead of fainting because of one," the blue eyed turtle, Michelangelo, stated in good humor, his large white teeth showing past his grin. She returned his smile with her own modified smirk and a small laugh before continuing.

"How 'bout you Casey?" she asked, turning to the long haired man holding April's hand.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I met Raph here first. He came up on me bustin' heads in Central Park and pulled me off these hoods that had taken over a small corner of the place," he started

"And they call me a hot head," sneered the amber eyed turtle, under his breath, though Ellie still caught it.

"So, we fought each other for the better part of an hour before callin' it quits, for that night anyways," he said, giving the turtle a fake glare, "We bumped into each other a few more times before I got a real good look at 'im. But outta everything lurking around this city I figured a talking turtle was really the least of my problems," Casey paused, running his free hand through his sandy brown hair with a smirk on his face.

"So that's it? You fought and now you're friends," she said incredulously, though Raph didn't seem to be harboring any anger towards her.

"Not really but, yeah, it's how we are, we fight, we watch a movie, we fight some more but in the end we're friends," Raph replied for Casey, sitting forward in his chair, propping his elbows on his knees and shrugging his shoulders.. Ellie nodded somewhat in understanding; her mother and father had gotten along like that. They would argue, sometimes even yell at each other but at the end of they day neither would go to bed angry. She saw in these two a similar bond, something fierce, a brotherhood and it made her smile just a bit.

"I think," April started, "that what's important is that we're a family, one you're now apart of," she meant to say more but was stopped by her niece.

"Then why the lies?" she asked, her voice quiet, hurt but not angry, yet.

"I'd just lost my brother, your father. It was hard enough just getting on with each other that we thought waiting would be a good idea," April said just as softly with a tight sound echoing through it. Eileen nodded after a moment of contemplation but still held the same look of hurt in her eyes.

"Alright, I can understand that, I don't like it but I get it," she stated taking a moment to think of her next question, "Now, why do we need to be watched? Why isn't it safe for Lani and I to be on the roof alone?" she asked as she drew her legs close to her chest and encircled her arms around them.

"That is one question I believe I can answer," Splinter said, "The Foot have had your Aunt under surveillance for over a year now, your arrival did not trigger any more of Shredder's ninja but we had to be sure to keep you and your friend safe. I think we would all prefer if you tried not to go out alone, you can of course stay alone here at home."

Eileen nodded, she still didn't fully understand but she was starting to when a thought entered her mind. The Shredder, something about him, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. The thought flitted past her, just out of reach when it hit her, "Oh, my God, Oruko Saki is the Shredder!" she stated, bringing her hand to her mouth. He had been so close to her! A killer had actually walked beside her! Some of the strange things he had said were making some sense now. Her Aunt looked from Casey to her to Splinter and finally back at her before speaking.

"What makes you say that?" she questioned, her voice a little too high, her words a little too fast. All alerting Ellie to the fact that she was right, the man she had met on the plane was the killer they had all been discussing.

"Oh, I don't know," she said sarcastically, anger filling her voice again, "He showed particular interest in me when he found out who I was, you and Casey obviously didn't like him, he's the most powerful Japanese guy in the state, I looked it up, and He was really, really creepy," she stated, ticking each reason off on her fingers as she fumed wondering how many more lies were hanging around Taking a deep breath she calmed herself enough to wait for the adults to respond to her statement.

"You are correct, Saki is the Shredder, you are as astute as April has told me," Splinter stated calming her further with his smooth, gentle voice. She looked away from him over to her Aunt, their green eyes meeting, O'Neil eyes, and they seemed to come to an understanding.

"I don't want to be kept in the dark anymore," she stated quietly, April opened her mouth to say something but Eileen held up a hand, "Wait, just hear me out. If I don't realize that I'm in danger or putting others in danger I may only make situations worse," she said pointedly looking at Casey.

"Then just assume you're in danger," the turtle named Leonardo stated roughly. She scoffed at him, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry; I can't live like that, always looking over my shoulder wondering when and where I'm going to be attacked. I need to know if something isn't safe, I'll accept your word if you promise to tell me the truth here and now," she stated simply, maturely, looking each person in the room in the eye for a moment before stopping finally on her Aunt. April looked briefly at Splinter and Casey who both nodded.

"I think we can do that," she said with a sigh. Eileen noticed the tired look in her eyes, a heaviness that wasn't there this morning when they had all had breakfast

"Thank you," she said in a near whisper. She swallowed deeply, one final question bubbling up in her, "One more thing,"

"Yes," Casey said when no one else made to reply.

"What about Lani?" she asked, glancing from her Aunt, to Casey and finally resting on the large, solemn looking rat.

"What about her?" asked Leonardo, in a tone Ellie found she really didn't like. She clenched her jaw, taking a deep breath through her nostrils.

"Well, she's here a lot, at least half the week or I'm with her. I suspect you've been watching her place when I'm there," she paused and at the turtle's nods she continued, "She's not stupid, she's bound to figure it out," she reasoned glancing poignantly at Michelangelo who gave her a pleading look and turned her face back towards April before she thought anyone had noticed. But Raph and Leo had both noticed. And while Raph had already heard about his little brother's encounter with the pretty Hawaiian; Leo had no previous knowledge of it, but he was determined to find out later.

"I don't agree with you, too many people already know about us, who says we can even trust you let alone your friend," Leonardo stated, looking down at his orange clad brother before looking at Eileen O'Neil. Her body tensed, her jaw clenching again and now she knew she hated his tone.

"Really, who died and left you in charge?" She stated, standing up her fists on her hips in an unwittingly perfect impression of April right before she threw a punch. Raphael smiled, crossing his arms before chuckling.

"Oh, I really like her now," he stated with wink. At his words her anger faltered for a moment before flaring up as the turtle in a blue knitted sweater and khaki pants stepped out from behind the love seat occupied by Raph and Michelangelo. Instead of stepping down, like he had expected, her spine straightened and her shoulders tensed, ready for a fight; He took another few steps towards her, his face set in a scowl before his father stopped his momentum.

"Leonardo, stand down," came a bark to her right from Splinter. The turtle automatically backed off and returned to his previous place but the distrustful look on his face remained, "Miss Eileen, I asked that you do not provoke my sons," he said.

"He started it," she stated, her voice squeaking slightly as she pointed at the turtle.

"That may be, however I must remind you that he is a highly trained…" he started until she interrupted.

"Ninja, I get it, doesn't make him less of a jerk," she said retaking her seat.

"Oh, I may love her now," Raph whispered to Mikey as they tried to hold in their laughter.

"Again, that may be, but he does have a valid point. I personally trust you but how can we be sure of Miss Lani's ability to keep our secret?" he asked.

"You could take my word," she stated her voice taking on an edge it hadn't had before. She stood up at this point and limped her way back up to her room, swearing all the way in Spanish, courtesy of her father's cook, Julia, and locked the door. She didn't slam it, her father had taught her, the hard way as a child to never slam her door. The whole summer of her 12th year was spent without a door until he felt she wouldn't slam another door. She paced the room while the sounds from down stairs filtered up through the vents.

"Did she just call me a bitch?" Leonardo asked, his voice oozing offense. Michelangelo and Raphael started cackling like hens and Donatello chuckled, shaking his head.

"I've never seen her act like this," April said disbelievingly shaking her head.

"I'd say the honeymoon was over," Donnie stated, while his two seated brothers caught their breaths. When he was greeted with looks of confusion he reiterated, "She's gotten comfortable and doesn't feel like she has to hide her emotions,"

"Oh," April replied and after the pause, "great, what do we do now," she said, her voice taking on a defeatist tone. Everyone looked to Splinter, who shook his head while running his hand through his beard. He stood, taking his cane and moving towards the stairs.

"I shall go speak with her," he said, making his way up the steep steps to the upper floor.

**End Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

_Thanks to everyone who's reading this fic, this chapter has now been Betaed by my beta reader, Fabian:), so big smiles for the newly refurbished chapter 9_

It was still quite light out of doors, but inside with the curtains drawn and the smoldering fire sending out a dim, uncertain glow, the room was full of deep shadows. -Kate Chopin

**Chapter 9 – Open Doors and Deep Shadows**

Eileen paced her room, her bare feet making no noise on the soft rug covering her floor as she fumed; growling at herself for letting Leonardo get so easily under her skin. His manner had reminded her of Mary St. Claire, all self-righteous indignation and confrontational stances that it had all boiled up in her until she had to leave the room. It was all too much to take in, mutant animal-people, ancient ninja clans and all the lies; the secrets, wondering how much more she didn't know. It all turned in her mind, thoughts moving about at breakneck speed until finally, with an exasperated huff, she fell back onto her bed, pulling a worn embroidered pillow to her chest. Long, delicate fingers danced across the soft, faded pillow, the outline of worn, pink ballet slippers stitched on them that her mother had made for her. The white pillow had been a gift for her eighth birthday, the last they would spend together before Margaret O'Neil's death. It was moments like this when she wished she could run to the arms of a parent, when the loss of both seemed so acute. She was roused from further thought by a gentle rap on her door; she swung her legs off the bed, sat up but made no move towards the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice just loud enough to make it past the wood of her door.

"It is Splinter," came the soft reply of the rat, "May I speak with you?" he asked, leaning heavily on his cane as he heard her quiet footfalls and the slow grinding click of her lock and she opened her door. She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed and an aggrieved look on her face.

"I'll listen," she stated, her voice short and clipped. Splinter shook his head, turned and indicated that she should follow him across the hall. He took a key from a pocket in his robe and unlocked the door with the Japanese symbols on it. He walked into the dark room and she continued into the cavernous space when the room was flooded suddenly with light.

Eileen blinked rapidly against the bright white light, the room coming slowly into focus. It was large, larger than her own room, taking up over half of the third floor. The floor was some kind of natural tan fiber, a tightly woven rug, reaching from wall to wall. The glass windows were covered in rice paper, hiding the occupants from the outside world but would allow the sunlight in during the daytime. There were two sets of very sturdy looking bunk beds in a far corner, strong enough to hold the obviously heavy turtles. And a lower set bed next to them set at just rat height and a door leading to what Ellie assumed was a bathroom. Weapons of all shapes, sizes and make lined the walls awaiting use; a few even seemed to attract her attention more than others, but she shook her head and turned away. There was a small sound system, a meditation area in the corner to the right of the door and two large punching bags hanging from the ceiling. The room reminded her of old, badly dubbed, Japanese movies; there was something well planned here and an old, well used feeling about it, this was a room where warriors trained. Splinter had allowed her to take in the room, simply waited for her to speak.

"Wow, it's… it's…" she stuttered, turning and finding the brown eyes of the short rat who had renamed himself Splinter.

"Remarkable?" Splinter supplied and at her dumbfounded nod he continued, "Leonardo and Donatello implemented its creation. As you can gather it is a dojo of sorts, a place for us to stay when we are caught above and where you Aunt and Casey may join us in our training. There is much more to it than meets ones eye as well; Donatello is quite creative in matters of electronic devices. He has brought this arena 'into the next century', I believe he said it. I'm sure he would be more than happy to show it to you later," he said moving towards the area of meditation, sitting cross legged on a soft looking mat and waited for her to speak.

"Why show me this?" she asked, joining him on the floor, her back straight as she copied his pose. He seemed to be thinking, the silence between them stretched but she didn't dare say a word. The quiet in the air pushed her words down into her stomach and refused to allow her to speak; so she waited for him to find his words. He sighed deeply as though there were a great weight in his chest that he was trying to release and then he spoke.

"I show you this to let you know that the world you have entered into is a dangerous one, a world where we fight to stay alive," he stated his voice taking on a solemn, warning quality, "And that this is the world that you would be bringing your friends, Ailani and her sister into, should you tell them of us," he watched her mind working, thoughts coming forth through her eyes as she planned out what she was going to say. Her eyes had the look of April about them; the intelligence and verde spark of fire that both women possessed intrigued him.

"I understand, but unless I stopped being her friend she would never be safe. She's a target, just like my simply being April's niece does the same to me," she stated watching his reaction. He closed his eyes with a sigh but nodded just the same; his face taking on an almost bittersweet countenance.

"You are much like your Aunt, wise beyond your years," he said, "However, you are still young, and one downfall of youth is hasty decisions. And this is one that can not be taken lightly nor back. I wish for you to take time in this, become better acquainted with us before you decide whether or not to tell your friend and her sister of us,"

"You're giving me the choice?" she said incredulously, "why?"

"Because I believe that you have been sent to us by destiny and that we should all be the makers of our destiny whenever we can," he explained.

Eileen thought about what he had said, the words seemed odd, almost like a fortune cookie but coming from this large, mutated rat-man, it all seemed to made sense and so she smiled softly at him.

"Alright, I'll wait and tell you guys my decision before I do anything," she stated and he nodded in agreement.

"Now, I wish to know something else," he said, his pose and tone taking on a more business like appearance.

"Okay, what?" she said quickly and with great desire for the mood between them to change.

"Exactly what happened between Raphael and yourself," he said, not exactly the conversation she wanted to have but at least this was cut and dry, "I wish to know how it is that you would fight physically, injure each other and then you would defend him so vehemently to me," he continued, his fingers steepled and his brows drawn together to give her a look that wouldn't be denied.

"Uh, well, that's kinda difficult to explain," she began to say, the words failing her as she remembered her motives when she first attacked Raph, her anger at his watching her tears. She would have to admit her failures to Splinter, someone who didn't know her, a person she had just met of her inability to control herself.

"Try starting at the beginning, it is usually a good place," he stated sagely. Eileen's expression took one of a hunted rabbit, afraid and panicked; a look Splinted had not seen nor expected from this girl that he saw as a younger version of April. Leaning forward he placed a gentle hand over her clasped ones, "You are not in any trouble, Miss Eileen, I just need to know what happened, to know if Raphael needs discipline," Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head before she spoke.

"No, he didn't do anything wrong, I think he even held back," she started to go on when he raised his paw to stop her.

"Please, at the beginning," he instructed, she nodded, taking a deep breath before starting again.

"Well, I was up on the roof, and I know that I'm not supposed to be up there alone but I'd spoken to someone that upset me and I needed the air," she said cryptically. He wondered what could have upset her so badly but he would wait to question her on that measure. "So, I was up there, pacing when I heard something, a sound, and I followed it to where Raph was hiding, he tried to run past me, I grabbed him, we fell. When he tried to get up I must have hit my face on his shell," she said touching her swollen and cut lip, "I held onto him, once he stood, with a choke hold my dad taught me. That's about when Casey came up to my room, I yelled for him, he pulled me off Raph and I kicked him in the face," she laughed a little at this pulling her foot out from under her to show him the bruise from the turtle's jaw, "You know he's got a really hard head, that's why I'm limping. That's when I saw him and here we are," she said in a rush, barely breathing as she spoke.

"You make it all sound very simple, Miss Eileen," the rat stated, pulling thoughtfully on his beard.

"It kinda is, I was already mad about something else and he was there," she shrugged her shoulders as though grappling with a six foot mutant turtle were an everyday occurrence.

"I wish to know what it is that upset you so that you would attack another person," he said his voice leaving little room for argument. He watched her nervously look around the room, avoiding his eyes until they finally rested on her hands, clasped in her lap.

"Well, I guess it started this morning when I heard Aunt April and Casey fighting over money," she started to explain the events that led her to the talking rat in a dojo above an antique store in SoHo.

Below them, in the large sitting room, the turtles all sat in varying states of anxiety while their father was upstairs with April's niece. Raph and Mikey still sat in their sofa while Leo angrily paced the length of the room. April started to stand to talk to the turtle in blue when Donnie grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him into the kitchen.

~*~

"What, exactly, is your problem, Leo? Why did you treat Eileen like she's the enemy?" Donnie asked quietly, keeping his voice down so that his other brothers couldn't hear him. Leo looked away from Donnie, trying to pull his arm from his younger brother's grip. But the smaller turtle had always had very strong hands, he needed to so he could keep a handle on his bo staff.

"Let me go, Donnie," he growled. Leo's expression grew hard when Donatello wouldn't let go of him. They both grappled a little in the smaller room, not enough to garner much attention but enough to incite anger in both teenagers.

"Come on, Leo, you're acting like Raph," he stated, allowing it to sink in before asking his next question, "Is this about Karai?" Donnie questioned, pulling Leo closer when he tried to extract himself again.

"That isn't any of your business," Leo hissed through his teeth, pulling harder on his arm until Donnie finally let go. However, he still blocked Leo's exit out of the kitchen. Leo puffed out his chest and stood as straight as he could but, completely out of character, Donatello would not be intimated, "Donnie, I just don't want to talk about Karai, it's complicated. I trusted her and she… she just wasn't who I thought she was," he said looking out the window and into the night; his expression telling Donnie that the conversation was over.

"Look, Leo, I get it, I do and if you don't want to talk to me, at least talk to Master Splinter, okay," Donnie placed a hand on his brother's shoulders before turning and leaving him to lean against the kitchen counter and brood. Donnie walked back into the living room and collapsed into the chair Eileen had previously occupied with a heavy grunted sigh. He looked up at April and Casey who both lent forward as though the simple movement asked him what had happened in the kitchen. He shrugged, indicating that he hadn't gained any information and they continued staring at the empty staircase.

"I'm hungry," Mikey whispered to Raph, his voice taking on a whiny pitch. Raph chuckled and looked backwards at Leo who was still leaning against the counter in the kitchen.

"You'll have to get past happy boy over there if you want any food," he said, pointing his thumb back a Leo.

"I know, he's doing a real good impression of you today," Mikey grumbled as he sat back into the sofa. A smack in the back of his head was his payment for his remark but he laughed it off, Raph didn't put too much into it. They both looked up at stairs again when Mikey said, "I wonder what they're talking about,"

"Who knows, Splinter's lectures can take forever," Raph shrugged, standing to walk over to Casey to talk. The shorter man followed his lead and they went into the dining room and began speaking animatedly about Raph's fight with the spunky redhead.

Upstairs, the conversation was winding back down as Eileen concluded her explanation of the legalities of April becoming her guardian. The girl paused, feeling the more like a small child that she had when Aunt April had pointed her and Raph down to the living room.

"I know it's silly, but I'm kinda afraid to talk to her about it," she said, taking a sudden interest in the flooring before her.

"Can you tell me why that is?" Splinter asked as he lent forward, forcing her face up with a gentle paw to her chin. Her green eyes avoided his and she looked like she wanted to bite her lip, but she thought better of it as she spoke.

"It's asking a lot, she'd be basically adopting me, it's more than just being my guardian," her voice took on a slightly wavering tone, but her eyes were dry when he looked into them.

"It is much to ask of a person, but not from one who loves you, Ako," Splinter said, slipping into Japanese as he was want to do on occasion; referring to her as _my child_. She furrowed her brows at the word but dismissed it quickly as she assimilated his words.

"Do you really think so?" she asked him hopefully.

"Eileen," he said, the dropping of the 'miss' was not lost on either one of them, "your Aunt would do this even if there was no gain for her, it is who she is at heart," he said, standing and offering her his paw to aid her up. She took it and was surprised at the strength found in his grip as he helped her to her feet.

"You know what?" she asked, when he looked up at her in question she continued, "You remind me of my Grandpa Jim, my dad's father," she said with a sad chuckle, "I loved him a lot, he always seemed to know everything about everything,"

"I am honored that you would see me in such a manner, as a reminder of someone so dear," Splinter replied, placing a claw like hand on her own as they went back down the stairs.

**End Chapter 9**

_Quick A/N: Sorry about my Japanese, I looked the term 'my child' up on Jeffrey's Japanese-English Dictionary Server so if 'ako' is incorrect I'm sorry. If someone knows the proper term let me know, I'd appreciate it!_


	10. Chapter 10

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope. -Aeschylus

**Chapter 10 – The Hope Found in Dreams**

Leonardo looked up at the sounds of footsteps descending the stairs and saw April's niece preceding his father, her steps purposeful as she headed over to April; the two women moving to sit in the dining room. The teenager tentatively took a seat next to Raphael, giving the red masked turtle a lopsided smile, giving care to her split lip. April sat in the chair opposite to the girl, next to Casey at the square table. He watched them speaking, the girl handing April a thick stack of papers and speaking in a shy manner, her eyes down and her voice too quiet for him hear. He shook his head with a sigh as a sound caught his ear, a three beat walk, and he looked down to find Master Splinter staring up at him with an inquisitive look on his furry face.

"Sensei," he said, his voice polite as he bowed, fist to palm, with respect to his father in the dim light of the kitchen. His father moved over to the light that hung over the sink watching it flicker, the light but never fully turning off before becoming fully bright again. They stood in the silence of the kitchen, no words, merely the murmur of the humans, a soft chuckle from Mikey and Donnie as they discussed something too quietly to be heard and the hum from the appliances the only sounds between them. Turning back to his eldest son Splinter smiled softly before speaking.

"My son, I was led to believe that Donatello would be fixing April's wiring problems," he stated glancing over at his younger son. Leonardo was confused, he had expected his father to speak with him about his attitude, but here he was going on about Donatello. He furrowed his eyebrow ridges and thought up a hasty answer.

"Uh, he was Master but he didn't get to it before her niece arrived and we've been banned from the building until now," he stated quickly, glancing covertly over at the taller, but younger, redhead. But he had not conceal his look enough as Splinter caught the direction of his son's gaze.

"Ah, I see, so he has been held back because of the girl," he stated looking back, slyly watching his son's eyes, for a moment Leonardo seemed confused by his father's words but quickly recovered.

"No, we just haven't been able to do what we normally would have since she came," was his hurried reply.

"Is that why you were so angered with her tonight?" Master Splinter asked, cocking his head, his whiskers twitching slightly in question

"No, no, I just, I just think we're too trusting, that's all. We accept people too easily into our confidences," he hissed, raising his voice and gaining the room's attention.

"We or yourself, Leonardo?" Splinter asked serenely keeping his voice low and even; the air from Leonardo's chest escaped in a sigh of frustration. He shoved his hands onto the pockets of his pants, looking down as though the pale gray linoleum flooring would reflect the answers he needed.

"Me," he grunted, looking at his father with frustrated eyes, nearly turning away.

"How so my son?" Splinter asked, but the turtle had begun pacing the short length of the kitchen and didn't seem to hear his father. Leonardo began speaking lowly, almost to himself, his words rushed as they ran together.

"I was the first one of the four of us to realize we would be alone, that the outside world would never accept us because of what we are. The idea used to scare me but I knew we'd have each other and that was fine. I gave up on having friends outside of my brothers then April and Casey came along and our family got bigger and I thought maybe, just maybe there were others who could see beyond the mutations, like they had," he said, nodding to the dinning room table where the humans were gathered; watching him pace. Raphael had turned in his seat, unsure of what to do.

"My son, there are plenty of people out there who could accept us, we can not close ourselves off to the possibility of extending our family," Splinter said, placing a hand on his son to still his movements. The young turtle looked down, his pacing stopped as his eyes focused again on his father and teacher. Splinter found such sadness in his son's face that he nearly stepped back from the boy; but his experience as a father caused his grip on Leonardo's arm to constrict in comfort.

"But she betrayed me, I should have known she was the Shredder's daughter," he whispered almost to no one in particular, his light green eyes darkening in defeat.

"Indeed? How could you have known? From what you say she truly did nothing to you but reveal her parentage, Leonardo. And I am of the opinion that most people are not in the habit of choosing their families," Splinter stated sagely, reaching up and again grasping his son's upper arms; forcing him to look down at the aged rat.

"Then why did she lie in the first place," he said, his voice raising again, before Splinter could answer a chair scraped the wooden floor and Raphael was next to his brother, so fast Eileen had barely noticed him move. Raph stopped inches from Leo and placed his hand on the shorter turtle's shoulder.

"What's she supposed to say, Leo? Hi, my name's Karai, I think I might like you, oh and by the way my dad's your mortal enemy?" The amber eyed turtle said, the sarcasm dripping in every word. Though unsure of the exact events that led to this conversation Eileen couldn't help but smirk at the comment. In a sudden clarifying moment she furrowed her brows; Saki had said he had a daughter her age; this Karai must be that girl.

"I don't know but she let it go on for so long," he started to say, his voice starting to take on a whine before Raph cut him off again, raising his hand to stop his brother's excuses.

"Leo, it's done. If you really want answers, talk to the girl. She still waits for you in the park some nights," Raph stated quietly. Eileen watched the interplay, still not really understanding everything but learning a lot about how the boys acted with each other. She felt a sudden feeling of the hostile turtle from earlier was gone and in his place was an awkward teenage boy.

"She does?" Leo asked, his ridges shooting up in surprise, "You've seen her?"

"Yeah, Case and I go by her sometimes, she sits right in the open. Look I'll go with you, 'kay," Raph said uncomfortably, Eileen guessed that the conversation was getting a little to touchy feely for the tallest turtle. The tallest of the four boys self consciously rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, a movement that told Eileen this wasn't the normal routine for the two.

"Since when did you get so smart, Raph?" Leo asked suspiciously, squinting his eyes and looking at Raphael as though he were some other six foot tall turtle.

"Eh," he shrugged, "your personality's bound to rub of a little, ain't it? Now stop actin' like me, there's only room for one jackass in this family and I already took that part. Come over here and talk with the girl, she's kinda nice," Raph said quietly wrapping an arm roughly around Leo's neck, guiding him over towards the dining room.

"She gave you a bruised jaw, Raph," Leo said incredulously.

"So have you, Leo, and I still love ya," Raph said giving his older brother a noogie.

**End Chapter 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Ahh, the new and improved Chapter 11. I hope there are still people out there reading this. Thanks to everyone reading and to of course to my wonderful Beta-reader, Fabian! You're an Angel!

_We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. - Anonymous _

**Chapter 11 – Returning to Normalcy**

Ellie sat in her room, her computer sitting on her lap as she IM-ed Lani. The girls hadn't been seeing much of one another since Lani had started her program at Juilliard. Ellie couldn't help but think it might be for the best; she was till getting used to the knowledge that mutants really existed and couldn't think of how she would be able to work around Lani and Mai's questioning her aversion to their company as of late as well. Movement from her screen caught her attention as the IM box blinked at her, demanding a response. With a sigh she read Lani's message.

"I'm off for the rest of the night, can I come over?" the screen name _LotusLani_ asked. With a sigh she tried to think of something to throw Lani off for the night. Casey had mentioned something was up for tonight, nothing specific but that was how the long haired man was, never giving you all the information.

"Sorry," she typed, "April and Case want to have another family night, maybe next time," she pressed enter and waited as the guilty feeling washed over her. The sounds, crashes and curses, brought her head up and she jumped off her bed. Typing a quick note she told Lani she'd talk to her later. She moved away from her bed and grabbed the baseball bat Casey had given her for 'just in case', and crept quietly to her bedroom door. The noise grew quiet as the people walked down the stairs. She flipped off her light, threw her door open and peered into the darkness, the bat raised like Barry Bonds. A hand came towards her from the inky black and she screamed; stumbling backwards away from the outline of the hand. She lifted the bat and took a wobbly swing, only to have it bounce off the person with a clang, leaving her hands dully aching.

"Owww!" Came a familiar, masculine voice.

"Raph?" she asked, backing into the wall, searching for the light switch.

"Uh, yeah," he said as she ran her hand over the wall, the hallway was flooded with light as she flipped the switch, "Babe, we gotta stop meeting this way," he said cheekily, rubbing his chest through his faded red hooded sweatshirt.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she said leaning the bat against the wall, slamming her palm lightly into her face in embarrassment; the other turtles, either halfway down the hall of midway down the stairs all chuckled, even Leonardo.

"Just repeat after me," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, she smiled as she nodded her head.

"Okay," she said, indicating that he should start. He smiled smugly, stepping close to her as he leaned against her door jam. Ellie gulped as she looked up at the tallest of the turtles, but didn't step back like she wanted to.

"I will look before I punch, hit, jump on backs or attack with baseball bats," he said, nodding for her to talk.

"Really?" she asked, one eyebrow rose in question as he nodded.

"It's the only way he'll forgive you, I speak from experience," Donnie said from the stairs.

"I will," she started only to be interrupted by Mikey who ran up and grabbed her arms. He put one over her heart and the other up in the air like she was taking an oath.

"Continue," he said, making a sweeping gesture with his arms and stepped backwards. Raphael was willing the laughter down, suppressing it into his stomach as the girl obeyed him grudgingly.

"I will look before I punch, hit, jump on backs or attack with baseball bats," she said with mock sincerity.

"Good, now you are allowed to come to our party," Raph said, pulling her out of her room and shoving her playfully to the stairs.

"Party?" she asked, continuing to walk as the boys hurried downstairs.

"Yeah, now that you know about us April's reinstated our movie night and we have a lot to make up for so we're doing a three movie marathon," Mikey said, thrusting three DVD cases in the air. His action was met with a girlish giggle that he prayed had come from Ellie. When they reached the landing Ellie stopped, Raph nearly running into her; he placed his hands on her shoulders to steady himself. Casey was dragging a couch past her and into a semi circle around the large television he'd just bought that week. Casey and Raph had brought the enormous box up the stairs to the living room with child like exuberance; grinning as the two of them put the thing together, trying to hook the big screen up the old surround sound that Donnie had made for them. Raph walked around her, casting a sidelong glance at the leggy redhead with a chuckle. By the time she had moved again Mikey had taken over the kitchen, Donnie was nothing more than a pair of green legs behind the TV and Raph had ripped off his sweatshirt while arguing with Casey as to the best way to organize the seating.

"Naw, the biggest couch in the center, for the girls, then our chairs around it," Raph said picking up the other side of the couch Casey was pulling and helping him set the heavy furniture into its place in the circle. She laughed as she watched the two argue and muscle the room together. Casey didn't want to loose the best seat in the house but had to admit Raph's point as they carried the large, red couch to the center of the seating area. All the turtles had removed most of their bulky and most likely warm clothing leaving them in extra large t-shirts and wife-beaters. She hadn't gotten a good look at them until now and she hadn't realized that they really had shells until now. They were slightly rounded domes on their back, melding somewhat into their backs with each one having a different diamond pattern covering the hardened shell. She looked to her left, feeling eyes on her, and met the cloudy green eyes of Leo.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked awkwardly, walking up to Leo; who didn't seem to have a job in all the chaos. The turtle shrugged looking down at her silently; she wondered if they were ever going to be on good terms. He barely talked to her and all her attempts at peace offering were met with the same stoic silence. Ellie had begun to wonder if Master Splinter had charged him with the old adage of if you can't say anything nice to not saying anything at all.

"Yea, order us some pizzas!" Mikey shouted as he thumbed through a red and white patterned cookbook, a flowered, orange apron over his own t-shirt that stated he was 'Medium Pimpin'.

"'Kay, what kind?" She asked as she headed towards the phone.

"There's a number by the phone, but if you just say it's for April O'Neil, they'll know what you want, order something you'll eat too, the boys can eat a whole pie to themselves," Casey called from behind the television, Donnie had vacated his position and was standing on an old gray recliner as he hooked a wire into a large speaker.

Leonardo watched Ellie shake her head and make for the phone. He wondered at how well the girl had seemed to mesh into the odd family. Everyone else seemed to get along with her so well. Mickey treated her like a guinea pig for his cooking creations; and she always tasted everything he asked her too. Donnie had spent two days hooking up video equipment for her so she could watch herself dance and correct herself. And Raph, well Raph treated her like a female Casey. Leonardo wasn't sure how appropriate it was since she was a young girl who had no fighting skills. He had voiced his opinion to Sensei but the old rat had told him all was well, that he would speak with them both. He hadn't had much interaction with her save a few minutes here, and there; mainly in passing. There hadn't been much need for him to be around; tonight had forced his hand and here he was. Splinter had started to insist that the boys had one night a week to themselves, a night out of the lair. Leonardo had always suspected Master Splinter had made up the rule so that he could have some time to himself. Raising four teenagers, mutant teenagers at that, would grate on any person's last nerve. He watched Ellie smile as she put in their order; she looked so much like April that he could see why the others were so accepting of her. He had yet to be fully convinced; she was very young, only a year younger than Mikey, the youngest, to be entrusted with such a secret. Shaking his head and clearing his mind of his resentment he slipped downstairs to see if April needed any help closing up her shop.

Ellie hung up the phone with the old Italian man on the other end wondering just how much eight pizzas was going to cost, plus tip. She leaned up against the counter with a sigh while Mikey whistled and mixed cookie batter in a large metal bowel. The last few days had been tense, the boys coming in and out like they had before she had come along each trying to become friends with Eileen in their own way. Raphael sat up on the roof with her at night, watching out for Foot while she went through the routines that Franz had given her. He was gruff about it, acting like it was a chore but he still always did it, and they didn't really talk much. Mikey was the easiest to get along with, though he seemed nothing more than a big goof ball. But Ellie had noticed him asking questions here and there about Lani. Donnie she understood somewhat, he had a passion for science like her passion for dance and music. If she talked to him on a level of how to incorporate electronics into her routines he was more than willing to help. But Leonardo was another matter; the turtle had stayed sullen, quiet and she was afraid to say anything least he react much in the same way as their initial meeting. She hadn't brought up Ailani at all around him as he became agitated when she did.

"Taste," Mikey said, a giant smile on his face as he held a spoon out to her. His blue eyes sparkled as she tentatively took the handle of the wooden spoon and put the bite in her mouth. The batter was interesting to say the least, not bad, and had a bitter flavor she couldn't name.

"Interesting," she said as she swallowed the chocolate concoction. Mikey's smile broadened, his chest swelling at what he assumed was praise. "So what is it?" she asked carefully.

"Chocolate chip coffee bean cookies!" he beamed, his blue eyes sparkling as she laughed at his goofy grin, patting his shoulder as she left the kitchen and its chef.

Returning to the living room she found Donnie on Raph's shoulders as he wired the last of the speakers together. Part of her wanted to say something about getting a ladder but as she watched the boys she realized they had perfect balance. They didn't teeter the way any other boys doing the same thing would; for the first time she was getting a front row seat watching their ninja abilities. She had noticed their reflexes were quicker and they were stronger than average humans, and she thanked her lucky stars that Raphael had held back when they had fought. Still, didn't fear them as other people would and now, as she watched Donnie flip off his brother's shoulders and land on his feet, she gained a new found respect for them. When she turned away she sat at the dining room table, waiting for something to happen, for a party to begin. Not having been to many parties Ellie didn't know what she should expect but having gotten to know Mikey and Raph she knew she should worry; add Casey into the mix and she wondered if she should hide the breakables

**End Chapter 11**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Special thanks to everyone who has read and cared about this story, I'm working hard to get those next chapters out to you!! Special love to Fabian, you're a wonderful Beta!!

_He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both. - Francis Bacon _

**Chapter 12- Building with Two Hands**

He slipped out, no one noticed him leave the overly loud room; they hardly did anymore. Notice him, that is. The moody turtle didn't want to feel too depressed, or self deprecating so he had decided to see if April needed his help. The sounds from his brothers filtered through the closed door and Leonardo sighed, his head down as he put his weight up against it. He stood on the landing, the light here overly bright but not far reaching down the stairs that led to a narrow hallway and the outside world. He slunk down the them, checking the front door lock before turning left into the shop. Leaning against the casement he watched April talk on the phone, her voice a low hum, loud enough to hear but too quiet to make out the words. She scribbled something on a sheet of paper, her brows furrowed and her face set in frustration. When she hung up she sighed loudly, placing her head down on the counter, her arms folded beneath her. Leonardo cleared his throat, announcing his presence, but stayed where he was. Her reaction was quick as she ducked under the front counter and returned back up with her katana poised and ready.

"Just me, April," he said, coming out of the shadows, both pleased and saddened by the quickness of her trained reflexes. Pleased that hours of throwing various objects at her head had stuck so well but sad that she even had to use it. If she wasn't part of their family she wouldn't have to worry about attacks in the night, but where would they be without her to ground them?

"Geez, Leo, your scared me," she stated obviously, lowering the shiny weapon.

"Ninja," he said with a shrug and in a very Mikey-esque tone making April smile at his improved mood.

"Doing better?" she asked, stashing the blade back into its hiding place. The sound of metal sliding delicately into a sheath set Leo's eardrums ringing and his muscles tensed in spite of his knowledge that he wasn't in any danger.

"A little," he said shaking his head at her pointed look, "No, I haven't gone to talk with her, I'm afraid it might be…" he paused.

"A trap?" she asked in all seriousness.

"Well, that, but I was going to say awkward," he said walking over to her with a chuckle.

"That too," she laughed in a slightly forced way, the lines of worry around her eyes hard and unforgiving.

"You alright, April?" he asked, stepping closer to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, she shook her head.

"I need to talk with Splinter, I know it's kinda his night off but this won't wait until tomorrow," she sighed running a frustrated hand through her hair. Leonardo shook his head, pulling the shorter woman into a hug. His shirt was cool, a reflection of his body temperature, the heather grey material soft against her face as she squeezed back, some of her stress melting into the embrace.

"When did you get so tall?" she laughed sarcastically bending back a little to look up at him, her arms still holding onto the lip of his shell through his clothing, "I remember being taller than all four of you once,"

"Last two years," he said with a shrug, "Donnie says it's a new stag in our mutations because of our hormones we all got taller and our shells smaller and thinner."

"Because of puberty," she stated confidently, stepping back and giving him a once over.

"I guess, if so Raph hit first, he's always been the tallest," Leonardo remarked.

"Yeah and the most hormonal," she agreed as they both began laughing.

"You need to talk with Sensei," he said, "why not just call him?"

"I would but he's probably watching Gilmore Girls and won't answer the phone," she stated in exasperation. The rat had an unhealthy obsession with the going-ons of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

"Okay, I'll take you down, Master would have my shell if I let my big sister walk the sewers alone," he chuckled

"You sure? Tonight's your night off too," she asked in relief but her voice was still laced with concern. Even through her own issues and problems April could see the tired lines around Leo's eyes and wanted the boy to be able to at least relax a little.

"It's okay, kind of awkward up there with Eileen anyways," he stated with a shrug. The turtle stood back from April, looking anywhere but directly at her. She knew he hadn't been doing much to patch up things with her niece and he didn't want to see the disappointment in her eyes.

"She still wary around you?" April asked, moving to clear off the counter.

"Yeah, I don't blame her. This must be how Raph feels," he said. April looked at him funny, confusion clouding her features as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"How so?" she asked.

"Everyone walking on eggshells around him, afraid they'll set him off," he replied. April sighed with a nod hoping the experience would at least, if anything, give Leo a better understanding of his moody brother.

"She'll get over it once she gets to know you better," April stated, sure of her words.

"Hopefully, but I can't stop being edgy around her. I just know she's going to bring her friends into our lives and I'll have more people to watch over that can't protect themselves." He stated quickly with a growl. The older woman watched the anger and frustration boil up in the normally composed teen, his whole body tensing up to a near shaking heap of nerves.

"Is that what worries you so much? That you can't protect us all?" she whispered coming back over to him.

"Yeah, whether or not they reveal us is mote to point. Either way I'm still having to work harder at protecting my family," he looked down at the wood flooring avoiding the sweet but baffled look April was giving him.

"Hamato Leonardo, you stop this right now. Your family is filled with fighters who can take care of themselves," she said grabbing both his shoulders and giving him a good shake.

"Eileen and her friends can't," he stated argumentatively, making no attempt to move away from the curly haired woman.

"First off, I think Raph's bruised jaw begs to differ. He told me himself she could hold her own in a fight," April stated with a mix of pride and worry. The O'Neil clan had always been filled with feisty women but it worried her that Eileen didn't seem to look before she leapt into the fray.

"She's quite the grand slam hitter too," Leonardo said chuckling and smiling a touch in remembrance. The sound the wooden bat had made bouncing off of Raph's plastron had been priceless, a good memory of the girl in his mind.

"What?" April asked, her voice raising a touch in pitch so that it was nearly a squeak. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.

"When we were coming in from the roof we surprised her and she hit Raph with a baseball bat," he sputtered, the laughter threatening to shake him out of his shell.

"Oh God, what did he do?" April asked, slapping her hand over her eyes almost afraid of the answer.

"He made her swear to look before she strikes; Mikey even had put her hand over her heart. He didn't even yell at her," he said with a bit of awe in his voice. Leo still didn't understand his brother's treatment of the girl; it kind of made him look like he was the volatile brother.

"Really?" She asked in disbelief, "First the whole thing on the roof and now this. How are they getting along so well when she's attacking him at every turn?" She asked, not truly expecting an answer.

"He treats her kind of like a mini Casey, jokes with her and stuff like that," he said to himself, his eyes growing suddenly large.

"What?" April asked, placing a hand on his arm in worry,

"He likes her," he stated simply.

"That's," she paused, "good?" Her eyes squinted in confusion as he shook his head in response.

"No, he _likes_ her," he stated emphasizing the work 'like'. This time it was April's turn to look shocked.

"Raph? Really, you think so? Raph?" She asked Leo in a tone that told him she really wanted to sit down.

"Yeah, I do, I don't, however, think he realizes that he does," Leonardo replied.

"How could he not realize something like this?" she asked.

"This is Raph we're talking about; he wouldn't know something like this unless it hit him over the head. And in this case it has. Need I say more? Should we do something about it?" Leonardo asked April, deferring to her as the adult in the situation.

"No, not until we're sure. Until then we just watch and keep quiet, it might just blow into nothing," she said as though one more thing to worry about might knock her over. Leonardo nodded but still didn't like the idea of his moody brother having anything to do with the girl upstairs and he didn't know why. Perhaps it was because she looked so much like the woman before him, reminded him too harshly of his former crush on April. Either way he wasn't sure Raph liking any girl was a good idea, he could barely get along with his own brothers and, in Leonardo's opinion, girls tended to be on the more sensitive side of emotions.

"Come on, I'll take you to the lair," he stated, trying to forget Raph and April's niece.

"'Kay, I need to call upstairs to let Casey know we're going somewhere so he won't worry," she said, grabbing the phone and dialing the house number. From their end Leonardo could hear April asking for Casey and telling him that they were going out and would be back later. "Lead the way, oh Mighty Leader," she said in her best Raph tough guy voice.

"Har, har, April," he said as they slunk out the side door. The late June night was clear, a slight breeze picking up bits and pieces of paper trash that littered the wide alley. It lifted up the strands of April's hair that had escaped from her ponytail during the day, playing with them as they climbed into the manhole that would take them to the Lair. Donnie and Mikey had done their best to clean up the route without making it appear obvious that it was less slimy and easier to maneuver than other nearby areas of the sewer and April was thankful as she jumped over a large crack in the tunnel in her sandals. Leo took a left at a tunnel junction and opened the entrance to the Lair after checking to make sure they hadn't been followed. The Lair seemed so quiet without the sounds of the boys filtering throughout the high ceilings and bouncing off the cement and brick walls; but they could hear the television on off in the entertainment area. It was loud and Splinter never would have been able to hear the phone should it of rang. They walked over to the couch in silence; a small tuft of Master Splinter's head could be seen over the top as his favorite show played on the giant screen Donnie had procured from the city dump.

"Master Splinter?" April called out over the sounds of the Gilmore Girls. There was a small crash as the rat leapt up, taking his walking staff in his hand like the weapon it was, and he moved into a fighting stance quicker than possible for person of his advanced age.

The mutagen had done wonders for his joints, he thought with a humorous undertone as he searched the darkness for the intruders. He nearly laughed aloud at the sheepish looks from Leonardo and April as they crouched down in response to his reaction.

"Hello, children," he said, standing down and looking at the two with question on his face.

"April needed to see you, Sensei, so I brought her down," Leonardo stated with a formality to his voice that he only reserved for his father. A tone April knew annoyed Raphael to no end, one that he used to mock his brother when he wasn't around.

"Master Splinter, I'm sorry for disturbing you but I'm in need of your counsel," April said almost adopting the same tone, placing a sisterly hand on Leo's back

"Of course, my children, if it is truly important I am always here to counsel you," he said leading April away towards his rooms, "Leonardo, you may return above, please make an attempt at enjoying yourself," he said with laughter in his voice. They walked through a door dressed in rice paper, a crane painstakingly painted on the translucent covering. Splinter noticed a nervousness in April and tried to calm her nerves, "Don't fret on it my daughter; I was recording my show as it were so I may watch it at a later date. What is it that bothers you so?" He asked taking a seat on his customary cushion.

"Well, I was finishing closing up the store when my brother's lawyer, Philip Fitzgerald, called me," she began, sitting cross legged on one of the four cushions in front of her Master.

"Ah, in regards to you custodial stasis of young Eileen," he nodded with a smile.

"Yes, there's a problem, Charissa found out that we've requested full custody of her somehow and is going to fight us in court for Ellie. She doesn't want to lose the money she's been receiving for supposedly having Ellie. She's insisting that Ellie come back to live with her, that she should be with her 'family' but I know she just wants the extra money," her voice was exasperated, with a slight fearful undertone to it.

"A dilemma indeed, you plan to fight her, yes?" he asked, giving her an approving smile as her nod, "Excellent, from what you have told me of the woman, Eileen would be better off in your keeping,"

"Yeah, Phil thinks she'll use Casey against us when this goes to court," she said, biting her lip.

"What about Casey will she use to shine a negative light?" He asked, pushing her for more information.

"Well, we're unmarried and that could be spun as either an unstable family or that we're amoral. Also he is technically my employee and he has a criminal record," she said in an exasperated tone.

"Little can be done about his police record, although it should be made known the circumstances of his arrests were self defense and he was never formally charged of any wrong doing," Splinter said.

"That's what I said," she said throwing her hands in the air. Splinter put up a hand of his own to stop her, calming the woman with his serene face.

"Also Casey's stasis in you home is very easy to change," he stated, causing her jaw to drop.

"Oh, no," she said angrily, standing, "I'm not asking Case to move out, we're doing so well like this,"

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind," the rat said raising an eyebrow. Her mouth went from an angry line to an 'o' of understanding. With a sweeping gesture Splinter indicated that the fiery woman should sit. With a sigh she retook her cushion gracefully. "Now, I won't betray Casey's confidence, however I will tell you that we have spoken on the subject of marriage on more than one occasion,"

"You have? Marriage, with me?" she asked dumbfoundedly.

"Indeed," he chuckled, "Casey cares for you very deeply; more so that I think even he is aware,"

"But marriage… that's… that's," April stuttered, completely put off guard and not for once in her life feeling hopelessly lost.

"A very large step, but one I believe you are ready to undertake," he stated, placing a paw on her clasped hands. "And given the situation I am sure he would be willing to speed up his own time line for your relationship," he said cryptically knowing of an old ring the boy had retrieved from his mother that he had hidden in the Lair least April find it somehow in their apartment.

"How do I bring something like that up?" She asked a defeated sound to her voice.

"I could brooch the subject, I know he wishes to be the one to, as he said, 'pop the question'," Splinter replied.

"Would you? I don't want to offend him, he can get so touchy about things he thinks are in the realm of his manly duties," she said with a nervous giggle.

"Of course," he said, "but, the more important issue at hand is your brother's wife,"

"Yeah, how he married that woman is beyond me," she stated in a grumpy tone, crossing her arms over her chest as she began gnawing on her lip with renewed vigor.

"Beauty can make a man do things a sane man would quickly back away from," he said grimly to which April nodded.

"The only thing to do is fight her on it, I won't let her get her mitts on Ellie," April stated in grim determination, her green eyes sparkling in a way that told Splinter that April was indeed a dangerous woman to make your enemy.

"Excellent that you are willing to fight for this good, for I smell a battle in this," Splinter stated in a somber tone, steepling his hands as he did so.

"We do have one advantage," April said with a smirk.

"What is that?" he asked.

"That she lied about having Ellie with her all the while collecting checks, she was committing fraud the entire time," she smiled.

"You have another coin in your pocket," he stated.

"What's that?"

"Your love for the girl, I have seen you with her. She is becoming like your own child," he stated. "I am familiar with the ties of an adopted child, they form without your knowledge." he said, clasping her hand.

"I never wanted children; I have enough family in you, the guys, Casey and when James was alive, him and Ellie. But I couldn't see my life any different then it is now,"

"It is good that you feel this way for I fear raising a teenager, even one as well mannered as Eileen, is a trial," he stated with a laugh.

"Well mannered?" she questioned with a chuckle, "From what Leo told me she hit Raph with a baseball bat tonight, I think Casey's rubbing off on the girl. And have you forgotten how those two met? Or her yelling at Leo and swearing at him? Are we talking about the same girl?"

"Yes, we are, though her outward showing to the world may sometimes be roughly forged she is still a good girl under it all, much like Michaelangelo's carefree attitude belies an athletic warrior or Raphael crude behavior hides a shrewd and tactical leader," Splinter stated, his eyes filled with the pride he had in his two sons, the ones who thought themselves the least loved. April nodded in agreement and leaned forward to embrace her makeshift father figure; wishing for a moment her brother had met the man who, though he was mutated into a rat, was closer to a father than her own had been.

**End Chapter 12**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

A huge thanks to everyone whose been sending reviews lately! Getting really close to a new chapter so keep your hopes up! A special thanks to Fabian!!

_The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. _

_Arnold Toynbee_

**Chapter 13 – Supreme Accomplishments**

"Leo took April down ta talk with Splinter 'bout somethin'," Casey said once he'd hung up the phone. While the boys acknowledged Casey's statement with little more than grunts and nods Ellie looked around, counting only three turtles, and sighed. How did such large guys disappear with no one noticing, practically vanishing into thin air?

"Didn't even notice he'd left," she said with slight aggravation. It bothered her more than she'd like to admit, the whole Ninjitsu warrior thing they all shared, even Aunt April and Casey were being trained a little by Master Splinter. What it was that bothered her she was unsure; it could have been that she felt left out or that she feared the need for such skilled training or that she thought it made her less in all their eyes, maybe even a combination of them all. Mikey shrugged with a grin, wiping flour from his hands on his apron and leaving three fingered hand prints behind.

"Ninja," he stated, unwittingly copying Leo in intent and inflection. For his trouble he received a confused look from Ellie.

"Okay," she said slowly, "what does that have to do with…" she started to say before two green hands were silently placed on her shoulders and she screamed; a very Hitchcockian shower scene screech that made the entire room jump.

"Ninja are silent, they are fleet of foot and fly abreast of the wind," Raph said, once he'd stopped laughing, in a thickly accented voice that sounded to her like he was mimicking Splinter or David Carradine, she couldn't be sure which. But she got his point; Leo wouldn't be a very good ninja if a girl without any training would notice his departure. She did, however, spin around and punch Raph's bare arm, lightly but with enough energy and force to make a satisfying smack and get her displeasure across.

"Oowww," he said forcefully, dragging out the syllables, "thought we agreed, no hittin'," he whined.

"No, I promised that I'd think before I struck and I did," she stated petulantly, crossing her arms over her chest and furrowing her brows at him. Raphael could see the small curve at the corner of her lips as she suppressed her laughter, the sparkle and the lighter shade of green in her eyes as he stepped closer to her.

"Damn, shoulda worded that better," he said copying her poise, looking down at her, her head coming just under his chin as they fake glared at one another.

"Hamato Raphael, watch your language," she said, poking her finger into his chest with a laugh. He wrapped his hand around her smaller one to stall her jabbing, a chuckle of his own cracking out of him.

"This from the girl who called Leo a _punta_?" He said, still holding her hand in his own, though more loosely now. Everyone laughed, Casey leaning against the sink as Mikey came by him and sighed. Raph was enjoying how warm Ellie's hand was, being cold blooded and all had its disadvantages, she could really pull her hand away... if she wanted to. But her hand remained in his, it was the closest he'd come to actually holding hands with a girl and he was going to relish it for as long as it lasted.

Unbeknownst to the two bickering teens Michaelangelo was watching them intently, the usual laughter and good humor gone from his round, blue eyes. He wasn't scowling, per say, simply scrutinizing their actions very closely with a slight look of annoyance. Casey, who had been watching the pair as well, turned to look at the smallest of the four turtles.

"What?" Casey asked quietly.

"They're doing it again," he stated in a near whisper so only Casey could hear him.

"Doing what?" the human asked, squinting his eyes at the pair as though trying to see something that may or may not actually be there.

"Flirting," Mikey whispered miserably.

"No way, Raph?" Casey denied, looking up at the two bantering, arguing back and forth with the occasional shove from one or the other. And suddenly, in their behavior Casey saw himself, two years ago trying to get April's attention and it unnerved him so much he nearly groaned. His friend had never showed much interest in girls beyond the occasional lewd remark or his stack of well hidden Playboy magazines. Raph seemed oblivious to it, not realizing his signals for what they were. That was the only thing that set Casey at some slight ease, though he wondered how quickly Ellie would see the joking around for what it was, she was a smart girl after all.

"He's got no clue, and everyone thinks I'm the stupid one," Mikey grumbled pushing moodily away from the counter as the timer chimed for his cookies. Casey looked away from the two and watched Mikey.

"That's not true, Mike," he stated, realizing he meant the words of comfort as they left his mouth and not merely saying them to make Mike feel better. Mikey might be the youngest turtle in age and spirit, but he had his own brand of smarts. Each boy did, they made up for what the others lacked but Mikey always seemed to be the one pushed aside, his opinions taken lightly. Casey's eyes followed Mikey's movements as he poked at the cookies, putting the sheet back into the oven and resetting the timer.

"Donnie does and Leo never listens to my plans," he said blandly, "but Raph's lucky, the girl he likes is around," Mikey muttered cryptically as he lent up against the warm oven, soaking in the heat through his clothing and shell. The front door buzzer chimed halting any words of question Casey might have had as he went to answer it. The button was still sticky; he'd have to talk with Donnie about fixing it.

"O'Neil-Jones residence, whatda ya want?" he asked in a pleasant telephone voice, causing even Mikey to sputter with laughter.

"Uh, Pizza Delivery?" came the cracking voice of an out of breath teenager.

"Okay, someone will be down in a sec," Casey said removing his finger from the button.

"Ellie, you want to go down for me while the boys and I finish up?" He said watching Raph covertly as he handed the smiling girl the money. She grabbed the bills and trotted out the door. As the door slammed shut Casey got the reaction he'd been looking for: Raph's small smile disappeared as she left, the tough guy returning enforce.

The thing with living up stairs is you're constantly either going up or down them. Ellie really wished, after a long day, that this old building had an elevator. The old stairs creaked as she ran down them, making her wonder how Leonardo, who probably had at least a hundred pounds on her, had managed to leave without a sound. There was a conundrum somewhere in Leonardo, he was so rude to her and yet everyone kept telling her Raph was the hot head of the family and that Leonardo was the calmly assertive one. She just didn't see it. He snapped at her, not always in anger but definitely harshly with an edge in his words that caused her to avoid him. Was it something about her personality that irked him, the interruption to his family life or just her mere presence that bothered him so? Her thoughts raced through every interaction the two had had in the past weeks as she paid the delivery boy; shutting the door with her foot as she went back up the stairs. She softly kicked the door to the apartment and waited until Mikey answered it cautiously, one blue eye peeping through the crack he'd made in the door. He swept her in quietly; some of his earlier exuberance somehow lost, and told her where to put the tower of pizza boxes. She cocked a brow at him in question but he simply, and oddly quietly, waved her off towards the newly rearranged living room.

"What's Mikey's problem?" Donnie asked as she walked past him, his voice barely above a whisper. Ellie shrugged, pausing to look back at the small turtle as he talked quietly with Casey and finished making snack food for their movie watching. Donnie had noticed the changes in all his brothers since Ellie had shown up: Raph being nice, Mikey being sullen and Leo, well Leo was just being a jerk. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the changes which was something Donnie was very unused to. Ellie couldn't have been the reason; she was just one person and a likable one at that. Perhaps she was simply the catalyst, the final straw as it were to their changed behaviors. And while he liked the new Raph, it down right creeped him out; all the smiling and his being helpful. Donnie couldn't remember the last time Raph had had an angry outburst; his swearing had even decreased marginally. With Mikey it was more subtle, small fits of melancholia that went nearly unnoticed and quite far in between each one. But Leo, Leo he didn't know what or when he'd be set off. They all thought when he'd pinned down the Karai issue it would all change but their leader refused to go speak to the pretty Japanese girl. He'd only sit and stare at her from a distance with one of his brothers standing guard, never once letting her know he was there. Leo drew more of his thought than Donnie liked to contemplate; he'd always been the one Leo'd come to when his older brother had a problem and now he hadn't spoken one on one with Leo in nearly a week.

"Come on Deep Thought, let's start the movie," Casey said, slapping Donnie on the shell, bringing him back to the here and now. The brainy turtle smiled at Casey's nickname for him, better than many of the others his brothers had come up with in their childhood, as they went over to put the finishing touches on the electronics.

"So how exactly is a movie night a party?" Ellie whispered to Raph as he sidled up next to her. He loomed, his shoulder pressed a little to close to her for comfort. She never noticed how tall he was, just a bit shorter than Casey really, until he was right next to her, more often thinking of him in terms of how broad his chest and shell made him then how tall he was. But she wouldn't move, wouldn't let him intimidate her.

Raph nearly grinned when she didn't move away, in fact when she leaned a bit into him he nearly laughed out loud. Her arms were crossed over her chest revealing a small line of cleavage from her grey tank top and her big green doe eyes looking up at him as she asked him something. He hadn't heard her, didn't know what to say in response, he began to panic, though none of it showed on his face. Damn those freckles on her chest, they were so distracting.

"When you spend most nights fighting crime, a night in, just relaxing, is a cause for celebration," Donnie said as he walked back into the kitchen for food. Raph almost sighed in relief when Ellie moved away. Everyone took Donnie's actions as a cue to follow suite and began laying plates up with pizza, cookies and popcorn balls that Mikey had brought up from the sewers. Raph began tossing out cans of soda, throwing Casey a bottle of beer that the man barely caught making Raph chuckle. Ellie watched as Casey opened the bottle, shoving the neck into his mouth as the brew bubbled out the top, and felt a chilled can being placed in her hand and looked up just in time to see Raph walking over to the couches. With a slight smile she grabbed one of Mikey's cappuccino cookies, adding it to her full plate, and went to sit on the big purple couch she had claimed as her own since the night she had first met the turtles.

"'Kay, everyone settled?" Casey asked as he surveyed the room, most of the boys had chosen to sit in one of the extra large chairs April had procured for growing teenage size mutant turtles while Raph had taken over the opposite end of the three cushioned couch that Ellie preferred. Casey chuckled quietly as Ellie curled up into the seat her now bare feet pushed under a cushion as Raph lent his arm on the same pillow. He'd have to watch those two more carefully even if they hadn't noticed the other fully yet. He pressed play on the DVD player and hit the lights before taking his own chair.

The first film went off without a hitch; Ellie couldn't believe she'd never watched any of these movies. Though her complete aversion to anything Orlando Bloom could be sighted, the man was just too feminine to be a pirate, an elf, yes, a pirate buckling swashes… nay. Now Johnny Depp she could believe as a pirate and he was such a good looking one at that, she chuckled to herself as they all took a snack break. She made to stand only to be gently pushed back down by a turtle in a white wife beater. She scowled at him until he asked her what she wanted while he went to refresh their shared popcorn bowl. Once she'd put in her order she graced him with a smile that he returned somewhat lopsidedly. As Ellie stretched out her stiff muscles she felt eyes on her and turned to see Casey smirking at her from near the TV.

"What?" she asked at his amused expression, an expression that made her want to throw something at him. He looked over at the boys, making sure that they were out of earshot.

"Got him trained already?" he said softly so only she would hear. She looked confused as he nodded over at Raph who was laughing in the kitchen with Mikey. "Never mind," he said waving off her confusion and she let the comment slip out of her mind.

"Let's go already," Raph said, "here, Babe," he said quietly, handing Ellie her coke and plopping down on the couch somewhat closer to her than before. Ellie pulled her feet out from under the pillow; the slight weight of his arm had become increasingly uncomfortable throughout the last movie. Raph pulled them into his lap when she tried to kick his arm off her cushion and held them there lightly until she just relaxed back into the couch. It made her a little more than nervous, her bare feet exposed and in his lap. She'd always been self conscious of them, her dancer's feet with her big toes twisted from Pointe training, heavy calluses covering pretty much her entire foot even to the ankle where too tight laces had cut into the flesh and left their mark. He didn't seem to notice or if he did he gave no indication that he cared as he rubbed a lazy circle with his thumb every few seconds across her ankle. He just sat, relaxed, with his hand covering her ankle and watching the opening credits to the second Pirates movie. Ellie tried her best to simply ignore the tickling movements, for her his touch was a completely innocent action of two people who had become very comfortable with one another in a short amount of time. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself repeatedly in a mantra style. Even if said actions where quite thoroughly distracting her from Johnny Depp. However if Raph had even realized what he was doing he'd know his actions were anything but innocent but as it were he wasn't paying much attention to his hands as he was focused on piratical violence ensuing on the mondo big screen. Suddenly, Donnie jumped up, heading towards the bathroom down the hall, his footsteps nearly silent.

"Want me to pause it?" Casey asked into the darkness that had easily enveloped the turtle.

"Naw, I'll be right back," he called over an explosion. They sat enjoying the second film even more than the first with its slapstick humor and fiery explosions. It wasn't until Donnie got up to leave that Ellie realized Raph's hand had slid up her ankle and he was now paying her calf the same attention that he had given her foot. She thanked whatever deity that was listening that it was pitch black and that Casey was sitting behind them where he couldn't see. She held her breath at his thumb moved back and forth over her leg, his calloused skin causing the hairs on the back of her neck raise up and a chill run down her spine. Raph was again completely unaware of his actions until Ellie twitched her leg, nearly pulling it out of his grasp. He came out of his slouch and looked over at her in question, his brow ridge raise in confusion. The look she gave him was a mix between 'what the hell' and 'look where I'm indicating'; but really more 'what the hell'. Her eyes, nearly black in the darkness of the room, were wide and her brows had jumped up into her bangs as she looked down at his hand.

The normal Raphael reaction would have been to shrug offhandedly, maybe squeeze her calf playfully but he would not have removed his hand. That would be admitting he'd transgressed in some way. But where Ellie was concerned Raph was not his normal self, she messed him up and made him all out of sorts. He stared at his hand, just a few inches from the hem of her black capris, encircling her calf, and pulled it away with fear in his amber eyes. And in pure tough guy fashion instead of apologizing or even making any acknowledgment that he had done anything remotely wrong he suddenly found the movie very, very interesting. With a sigh Ellie pulled her feet off of his lap and sat up, feeling very weird about what had just happened with a tingling loss on her leg. She curled up with her legs under her and tried to regain her interest in the film. Something she was finding more difficult without Raphael's attentions than she'd like to admit.

**End Chapter 13**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

This is the last chapter until new ones! Thanks to my beta for all his good work and encouragement. R/R it actually does make me write faster!

_There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem – Harold Stephens_

**Chapter 14 – Solving a Concern**

Worry often can make the most intelligent people do quite unintelligent things. And Ailani was worried; fed up too. Ellie hadn't replied to her last few messages and she hadn't actually, physically seen her in nearly a week. These were the thoughts that kept repeating in Lani's head as she took off her shoes and crept up the center stairs to the O'Neil residence. Her sister whispered at her to stop but had the sense to also slip off her own flip flops, though she wasn't sure why, as she slunk up the stairs. Mai found a thrill at the sneaking but at the same time disparaged herself for not standing up and acting like the adult she had thought she was. That independent woman seemed to have gotten lost on the short drive over. Mai felt like pulling her hair, wild but cropped curls that kept getting in her eyes, as she tried to keep up with her wiry framed and thus more fit sister. The one thing with living in New York was the stairs, no matter where you lived or how nice the building there was always stairs.

The front door wasn't locked and Lani slowly edged in, keeping as much of the door closed as would allow her lithe frame through. Maila had to open it a bit further to let her curvier body in, still unsure as to why she was following her younger sister into such a ridiculous plot when they should of simply called April. The room was dark, the bluish glow of the television the only illumination offered to the two girls as they crept into the apartment. The configuration of the room had changed so much so that Lani knocked over a chair. Within second the sounds feet scraping the floor filled the room and the girls felt the air move around them as they were surrounded but several people.

Donnie had come back from the bathroom just as the door closed. His eyes had adjusted to the dark and he quickly realized it wasn't Foot ninjas like he'd initially thought but two young women. He threw on the lights to a chorus of groans and grumbles from his brothers that had surrounded the girls.

The lights came flooding on and it took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the bright kitchen light. They had been surrounded by three large, green, weapon carrying men, a remote control wielding Casey Jones and Ellie standing just back a few paces, a pillow held in the attack position. Lani quickly grabbed the closest thing to a weapon she could find, a dough covered wooden spoon, and poised herself in the most menacing position she could muster. Mai simply pressed herself up again the counter and stopped breathing. _I'm a thinker not a fighter_, she thought.

"Damn it, Don," Raph spat as everyone turned to look at him, even the two dark skinned girls. He was incredibly close to the oldest, close enough to see the honey flecks in her chocolate eyes; eyes which grew very wide as she took in his form.

"Oh, shit!" Ellie exclaimed, pushing past Mikey and Raph, "Lani, Mai, I can explain, just don't…" she started to say 'panic' when Lani's older sister did just that. She made a gasping noise as she started breathing again and then she screamed, a short sound that caused all the turtles to step back, and then she promptly fainted. Thankfully she was caught by the closest turtle before she crashed to the ground, Donatello..

"Wow," Mikey stated. "That was dramatic." He sighed, shoving his nunchucks back into his belt.

"Mikey?" Lani questioned, lowering her spoon, her head cocked at the turtle.

"Uh, hi, Lani," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and waving slightly. He turned a deeper shade of green as she smiled and put the spoon back on the counter. Ellie lowered her own large fluffy weapon.

"What were you gonna do, Babe, challenge the enemy to a pillow fight to the death?" The tallest turtle guy said sarcastically. Lani thought she might have laughed at the sarcasm if her sister wasn't unconscious.

"It was better than nothing, and I left my bat upstairs," Ellie said with a glare.

"Uh, guys, what do I do with her?" Donnie whimpered.

"This way," Casey said taking them back towards the room he and April shared. Lani was torn between questioning Eileen and running after her sister. Her curiosity won out and she turned to face the redhead with a frown and her hands on her hips. The girl, however, had a look of true horror on her face. Everyone followed her eye line to see a tall, thin turtle in a blue sweater glaring daggers at Ellie. She clutched the pillow closer to her chest, biting her lip. The tallest turtle, the one who had remarked on her pillow, stepped in front of her, a sai redrawn and placed a hand back on her hip to keep her still, to keep her behind him. Unconsciously Mikey had done nearly the same to Lani even though he didn't think his brother would really hurt anyone but that didn't mean he liked the dark look on his Leo's face.

"What the hell is going on here?" Leo sputtered, nearly incomprehensibly, causing Ellie to clutch Raph's arm and plaster herself against him. Under any other circumstances Raph would have been ecstatic over this development but as Leo was being an ass again he just tried to concentrate on his brother.

"So you just decided on your own," Leo growled taking a step towards Ellie, intending fully on pushing Raph out of the way. She internally began chanting _'must not antagonize stupid turtle'_, repeatedly while taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"Step off Leo," Raph said pushing his brother's plastron gently when he continued to advance on the pillow wielding girl.

"I would if she wasn't making impulsive decisions without informing us," He spat back at his brother. Lani, confused, angry, confused, had hear enough. She didn't like anyone who shouted like that at her best friend, Ellie'd had enough of that when she'd lived with Charissa.

"Hey, you, the guy actin' like a twit, she didn't know anything about us comin' over, we showed up unannounced!" Lani shouted from behind the relative safety of Mikey. Leo turned his head to look at the Hawaiian girl. She was nothing but a slip of a thing, just barley shorter than Mikey, skinny as a boy, but did she ever have a mouth on her. He saw why the two human girls were friends, they were so much alike. Then what she had said hit him, causing his frustration to bubble back up.

"We?" He said, deadly low, taking a step towards Mikey. The youngest turtle obviously took his job of protecting the girl seriously as his hand went to his nunchuck and his blue eyes went a little steely.

"Leo?!" Casey's nearly shouted as he took long strides to stand in front of the only marginally smaller boy, "What are you doin'?" He asked, placing his hands squarely on Leo's shoulder. The turtle looked down at the floor, his jaw clenching visibly as the anger draining out of his body and he seemingly physically deflated. With Leo distracted and no longer much of a threat Ellie and Lani returned their attention back to one another.

"So you just thought you'd come over when I said specifically I had stuff to do tonight?" Ellie asked her voice high and exasperated as she stepped out from behind Raph. Part of her had like the whole machismo bit while another part of her wanted to hit Raph with the pillow she still held in her hand. The sounds of the film, still playing on in the background, filled the silence for a moment while Lani pulled Mikey back to act as a living shield when he made to move away. Casey noticed the light pinking that rose up Mike's face even while he kept a steadying, commanding arm around Leo.

"Uh, seemed like a good idea at the time?" Lani squeaked grabbing the back of Mikey's shirt. Something swelled up in the turtle as she pulled on him.

"Lani, you're the most impulsive moron," she grumbled smacking half of Lani's head and half of Mikey's arm with her pillow.

"Uh, guys, she's waking up and I don't think I'm the face she wants to see," came a nervous voice from the back bedroom. Ellie, Lani and Casey all rushed into the room; Donnie edging towards the door. His escape was halted by the large bulk of his three brothers crowding it.

"Wow, I just had the freakiest dream, Lani," Maila said, sitting up. Her eyes widened when she realized that she wasn't in her own bed and that the freaky part of her dream was standing in the doorway; one looking particularly sheepish. "Shit," she swore, jerking up too quickly causing a wave of dizziness to flood over her.

"You shouldn't sit up too fast, you'll only pass out again," the sheepish looking turtle stated. It talked, her mind raced, _he_ talked, and they were all obviously male. This was the Twilight Zone, the Wizard of OZ and the X-Files all mixed up, thrown into a bucket and then dumped on the floor for her to slip on. It was all too much and she really didn't even know what was going on; why had she agreed to this half baked scheme of her sister's?

"Sis, breathe, you're turning blue," Lani chuckled, taking her sister's hand.

"Why aren't you panicking?" Mai hissed in a stage whisper as it cracked.

"Because I'm sure there is a perfectly logical, Toxic Avenger, sci-fi type explanation for all of this," Lani remarked off handedly bringing a chuckle from Mikey and Raph.

"Actually, not far off," Ellie stated, "Uh, what now?" she asked glancing first at Casey who had taken up residence against the window and then at the group of turtles gathered around the room's entrance.

"We should call Master Splinter," The second tallest turtle stated, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Aw, Leo, it's the one night he's had off in months and 'sides he's talkin' with April anyhow," the largest of the bunch stated, his amber eyes flashing.

"So what, Raph, you think you're qualified to handle this situation?" Leo asked crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Yeah, I do, we've heard Splinter tell our story tons of times, I think we could say it in our sleep," he stated puffing his chest out and leaning into the only somewhat shorter turtle.

"Guys, stop," Casey said stepping up and pulling the back of each of the boy's shirts. Leo had the maturity to look sheepish while Raph stood up straighter in an attempt to gain a smidgen of height over the man. "'Kay, I'm in charge, I want everyone in the living room, that's if you're good to move, Maila?" he asked gently to the still reclining woman.

"Yeah, I'm fine, though I have never actually fainted before so I don't really know the medical protocol," she said fully sitting up and swinging her legs onto the floor. Donatello stepped forward cautiously, for fear of frightening her again, the geek in him overpowering his shyness. Of all his brothers he was the least sociable with humans but only because he never knew what to say or how to act around them.

"You don't feel light headed do you, dizzy, nauseous or weak?" He asked, holding his hands out slightly, far enough to give her space but close enough he could catch her if she collapsed again as she stood.

"No, I think I'm fine, just really, really embarrassed," she said with a pinking blush. Lani linked arms with her sister as they made their way back to the couches. Casey followed behind the group, his mind racing. Should he call April or handle this on his own? How was he going to keep this new anger management problem Leo under control, how had those girls gotten into the house? By the time he was standing in front of the group he had the closest thing to an authoritative look on his face as he could muster; which unto itself felt strange, having to be the adult when one of these 'kids' was his closest friend, his brother in arms.

"So, what do we do now, Case?" Mikey asked in a falsely casual voice, his eyes drifting nervously towards Lani every few seconds. Something clicked in Casey's head and his earlier conversation with the blue eyed turtle came to mind.

"Well first, unless one of you two can pick a lock I'd say someone left the door unlocked," he stated not unkindly but still looking pointedly at Eileen who turned a lovely shade of fuchsia. Leonardo glared at the girl but thankfully kept his opinions to himself.

"Sorry, I didn't realize and my hands were kinda full," she stated pointing at the table pull of pizzas. Leo grumbled something under his breath that was nonetheless heard by Raph who had chosen to stand behind his brother's chair, a hovering sentinel.

"Leave her alone, Leo," Raph whispered with a low growl as he clutched the back of the blue and green easy chair. Leonardo's jaw clenched again but he stayed silent.

"You're not in trouble, just try and be more aware of what you're doin', 'kay?" Casey stated with a sigh; now that the proverbial cat had clawed itself of out the bag Casey began telling the story that Splinter had told each human who knew about the odd mutant family. Mikey made the occasional humorous crack, Donnie dropping in medical and scientific jargon while Leo and Raph stayed gravely silent.

"Huh," Mai said, when they'd finished, "sounds unlikely but not completely impossible,"

"Having the evidence sitting right nearby probably helps," the turtle called Donnie said. Mai found she liked him the best of all the boys; he had made it easier for her to understand just how something so practically impossible could actually occur.

"True, if Ellie had simply told us that story without your presence, I would find it all very difficult to believe," Maila stated smiling waveringly at Donnie, "But as it were, where do we go from here?"

"I believe now is where I make a slightly dramatic entrance," Came an elderly voice from the front room. Maila barely contained her shriek, muffling it behind her hand as she grasped Lani's elbow suddenly.

**End Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Finally! A new Chapter!!!! I hope that it was worth the wait and I promise it won't be so long next time. As always we can thank my beta Fabian for getting me through this and sniffing out my grammatical issues and making this readable. And please, please R/R, it really does give me warm fuzzies!

_Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends. ~Shirley MacLaine _

**Chapter 15 -Strangers and Friends**

The silence was heavy as it coursed through the room, becoming stagnant and still as they tried to breathe it in. April stood next to Master Splinter, completely unsure in herself and wondering, not for the first time since Ellie came to live with them, if she was truly up to this parenthood gig. While everything appeared fine, everyone had all their respective limbs, no visible bruising and it seemed that Maila and Ailani were calm, April felt a buzzing as though it were all being held together by a fine wire. A wire that could break at any moment. The three girls had claimed the large, red, antique couch as their own while all the boys had been sitting in their respective arm chairs until Master Splinter had spoken and they'd all either turned or shot out of their seats. Mai, her honey colored eyes meeting her own flitted with something April couldn't read before it was quickly masked. Leonardo had jumped up, his stance as rigid as the string of a bow waiting to be fired.

"Master Splinter I wanted to contact you but…" Leonardo started to say as he stood there in respect, bowing slightly before being interrupted by Casey who did his best to hide his annoyance.

"But _I_ felt I could handle this," he said casting a slightly aggravated look at Leo. It had been so nice, the whole thirty minutes Leo'd kept quiet, something Casey felt horrible for thinking. But the last couple of months, even before Ellie'd come, he'd been acting out so badly that no one could stand him. And Casey was best friends with Raph, the most pigheaded guy he'd ever met. Leo, once the paradigm of Bushido and Ninjitsu principles, was now a shaken container of swirling teenage angst.

"I see, I think perhaps April and I should join you, now. Casey, please explain the Hinos very welcome if not surprising presence," He said moving gracefully into the room, April following close behind.

"Yeah, sure, Master Splinter, see we was watchin' movies and I guess Lani talked Mai into coming over 'cause Lani here was worried over Ellie not responding over the Internet. I think we didn't hear them come in 'cause we'd rigged the sound so loud and they were really quiet. Then we calmed everyone down and told you guy's story and here you are," he said overly fast, his nerves finally coming through and his accent heightening in response. April smiled indulgently at him, proud that he'd seemingly diffused what could have been a volatile situation. Splinter nodded as he made himself comfortable in the newly rearranged room, his low chair turned slightly towards the couch the young women occupied.

"Excellent job, Casey," Splinter said, "Now Misses Hino, if there are any questions you might have I would be please to answer them," he stated leaning backwards into the same forest green, high backed arm chair he'd occupied when Ellie had first met the boys. Lani glanced over at Ellie, an odd smile on her face, biting her lower lip in thought.

"What?" Mai asked, wondering at the look on Ailani's face. The appearance of the large rat seemed to have caused less chaos than she would have thought another mutant would bring.

"He reminds me of Ojiichan," she said in a small whisper, a crooked smiled on her face.

"Your grandpa?" Mikey asked, surprised that the girl had spoken in Japanese.

"Our mother's father, he's from Japan," Mai stated shaking her head with a small smile of agreement. Mai had thought the same thing of the giant rat who carried himself with a quiet grace and an air of power. Although she had been thankful of the warning she'd received about him as fainting once tonight was more than enough.

"I take it the resemblance is a good thing?" Splinter asked, a smile on his whiskered face. At Lani's enthusiastic nod he chuckled.

"I do have a question, sir," Maila said, feeling almost as though she should be raising her hand.

"Of course, Miss Hino," Splinter said, inclining his head for her to continue.

"I was wondering if this whole thing was to be kept from Ailani and I or if our amateur breaking and entering merely sped up the time line," Mai asked in the best professional, grownup voice she could muster for the situation. The whole experience was making her feel sixteen again, not at all like an adult and it was beginning to take its toll. The rat, Splinter, took a deep, contemplative breath before giving her a smile that reached all the way to his deep brown eyes, making his whiskers move.

"Ahh, a very excellent question. And one I find I do not have the answer to. We left the decision of if and when with Eileen," he stated looking over at the girl sitting to Ailani's right and who quickly shot Splinter a long suffering look before speaking.

"Well… you see, uh," Ellie said, feeling completely overwhelmed and unprepared. "It's just that I wanted to give everyone a chance to know me before I saddle them with two more people," she stated, glancing nervously from Mai to Lani then finally looking fleetingly to Leo before talking again, "I thought that maybe I should have it all set up, you know, warn the guys and have them ready so it didn't turn out like their meeting with me,"

"Go that well?" Lani asked with a smirk on her face and sarcasm dripping from her voice. With a slight laugh Ellie felt some of the tension ease out of her shoulders.

"Actually all things considered it ended okay," Donnie said, all eyes suddenly on him, most looking quite confused, "Well, it did, I mean they could have killed one another, fallen off the roof," He started, waving his hand at Raph and Ellie, the later of which turned a bright shade of red only found in the complexion of the freckled Irish, "Ellie could have completely hated us all or, uh, fainted," he said, scratching his head nervously as he faded off with the last bit.

"Oh, Eileen, you didn't try and beat him up did you?" Mai asked, the exasperation heavy in her voice as she turned to the girl. Ellie, again on the spot, felt the tips of her ears burning and her words again lost.

"Uh, kinda?" she squeaked, retelling, again, the whole rooftop battle extraodinaire of Eileen O'Neil versus Hamato Raphael, with Mikey throwing in details that Ellie knew he shouldn't have known unless Raph had talked to him about it.

"Oh, Ellie, you'd been doing so well," Mai said defeatedly, disappointment coloring her voice.

"Yeah, wasn't your last fight in middle school?" Lani asked.

"Yes," Ellie said grumpily crossing her arms over her chest, embarrassment peppering her face. Mikey and Raph were chuckling at her petulant look.

"How long have you known Eileen, Misses Hino?" Splinter asked, detouring the conversation away from Ellie's fighting prowess for another time.

"I think the two of you have been going to school together since third or fourth grade, so eight or nine years," Mai said, looking over at the two teenage girls who nodded in agreement.

"Third grade, Mrs. Proost's class, good times," Lani said sarcastically. Ellie chuckled as she sputtered, choking on her own spit. She looked around meeting mostly confused stares.

"Mrs. Proost's was a rugby playing ex-nun who we all thought may have had military ties. She was completely insane. This one time she had our whole class, fifteen private school girls, all out in the rain, in our uniforms, doing jumping jacks because one of us hid her assignment book," Ellie said, pointedly looking at Lani.

"What, she found it," the girl said with a shrug, trying her very best to stay serious, a twinkle in her eyes causing her to fail miserably as they began ignoring the rest of the group.

"Yeah, in Gibbles' cage, half eaten and peed on!" Ellie replied incredulously. Mai turned to April with a quirk on her mouth as they allowed the girls to banter.

"Wait, who's Gibbles?" Mikey asked, waving his hands in the air to attract their attention. Both girls turned towards him, their arms now slung over the back of the couch.

"It was Mr. Gibbles actually and he was the class Guinea Pig," Lani stated sending him a wink.

"Whatever. The point is we were out there for two hours, three girls caught colds and Myra Jenkins ended up with pneumonia," Ellie cried in exasperation.

"Myra Jenkins was a wuss and already had asthma; she was a cough away from needing an Iron Lung. And it was character building, plus we became friends after that," she smiled playfully.

"Only because we ended up sharing blame and had two months of detention for it!" Ellie nearly screeched, but with a playful glint in her eye.

"Uh, why's that?" Raph asked pulling the girls attention to him.

"Because I sat next to the cage so Mrs. Proost assumed I had done it," Ellie started explaining, "But then, in an amazing show of guilt, Lani admitted to doing it. And because Proost couldn't believe that an eight year old girl could mastermind such a nefarious plot on her own I was punished by association," she finished with a shrug.

"But we got her back," Lani said in a sing song voice.

"No you got her back, I didn't realize I was helping until it was too late,"

"Okay, lost again," Mikey said.

"Imagine this, last day of third grade, thirteen trained hamster,"

"Don't ask where she got them," Ellie stated.

"They were my 9th grade science experiments, they were trained to run a maze. I was trying to see if they were as smart as rats," Mai shrugged, smiling a bit at Splinter, "They're not."

"Anyways, I've got these hamsters and I've set up their special treats all over the place, in her desk, in her jacket, everywhere. And I set them free and they go crazy looking for them. One mindset, 'must find treats'. It was hilarious because no one is afraid of hamsters so no screaming but no one wanted to round them up either. Eight year old genius," she said smugly.

"So how did you help?" Mikey asked turning to Ellie.

"I was an unknowing mule," she said with a grumble.

"Huh?" Donnie asked.

"She means I put them in her backpack," Lani giggled somewhat maniacally earning laughs and even a small chuckle from Leonardo as they began to relax.

"What do we do now?" Mai asked looking from April to Casey then finally stopping on Splinter.

"Look, you're all here already and we've got one more movie left. Why don't we all start the last one and just chill out," Mikey suggested, the adults all looking to each other, agreement in their eyes.

"It's alright with me," Mai stated while April and Casey nodded as well.

"I believe a but of relaxation will do us all some good," Splinter stated with a whiskery smile, easing back into his chair, his legs crossing underneath him. Mikey jumped up, moving over to the three girls, taking their orders, pretending to write them down on a mimed pad of paper like a waiter and doing a horrible French accent before entering the kitchen. Mai had waved him off with a soft smile before joining April in the kitchen as Casey changed the film. Even the Leo relaxed into a chair, pointedly ignoring everyone in the room.

"April, I am really sorry about this, I shouldn't have let Lani make my decisions for me," Mai said as the two women entered the kitchen, leaving the girls, Casey and the Turtles to restart the second Pirates movie.

"Mai, its okay, not the way I would have planned this but it turned out fine," April stated, smiling down at the shorter woman, "I'm actually kind of surprised your aren't, uh," she paused not knowing what to say next.

"Freaking the living hell out?" Maila supplied with a slightly crooked smile on her pixie like face, her almond shaped eyes lighting up. April busied herself with getting them drinks, placing them between them before taking a seat herself

"Yeah, I was even shocked that Ellie accepted this all. I mean she was more upset that we'd kept her in the dark than by mutants and that we all have a mortal enemy than anything else," April said lowering herself onto a stool next to Mai, facing the woman with an exasperated sigh. Mai was silent for a moment, using her drink to give her time to come up with a response

"April, the thing with Ellie is that she has an extraordinary talent at judging the character of others, she got it," she started to say something more only to be interrupted by her red haired companion.

"From James," she finished, her voice suddenly thick, hitching somewhat.

"Yes, from James. You miss him," it wasn't a question, just a simple statement of fact as she took April's hand.

"We'd thought about telling him about the guys right before he married that woman. But we couldn't trust her and we couldn't ask him to keep such a secret from his wife, no matter how much we disliked her," she admitted. " I haven't had time to really realize he's really gone,"

"James was such a decent guy, my parents loved him, we all did," Mai said, more for something to say than for any real need to say the words. April nodded, glancing over at Ellie and Ailani as they laughed at something Mikey had said. She smiled seeing so much of her brother, of her own mother, in the young woman and seeing how she could find happiness, how Ellie could smile and laugh and play through it all showed April that the girl was healing.

"Never did understand how he ended up marrying Charissa though," April grumbled drinking from her own glass.

"I don't think anyone did. Why would anyone want to be near that woman for longer than the few minutes it takes her to insult you is something I'll never understand," Mai stated succeeding in her attempt to lighten up the conversation. April giggled like a girl, an odd but happy sound that bubbled out of her and almost hurt to do. It felt rusted, ill used but still her own as she took a deep, cleansing breath.

"She must have done something that lured him in, or maybe it was that she was so different from Margaret. Nothing to remind him of her," April said with a shrug, shaking her head sadly at so much loss. Mai was about to say something when Ailani came running over from the couches.

"Maila? Can I stay the night?" Lani asked, bubbling up as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, looking somewhat like a much younger version of herself. Mai looked over at April in question who nodded her assent.

"Yes, but I expect you up to go to your class tomorrow," Mai stated trying to sound firm. Lani squealed, running back to the couches, leaping over the back of the one she and Ellie had occupied and tackling the redhead who's been distracted by talking with Raph. They watched as the tallest turtle took a step back in shock as the two were a tangling of limbs on the hard wood. With a smirk and a snort he bent over, pulling them apart effortlessly and chucking them back onto the couch, their grunts of impact turning heads.

"She should have done track," April laughed as she turned back to Mai.

"She did, how do you think she cleared that?" Mai replied turning in the stool she'd claimed as her own the few times she'd been up to the apartment as April stood and poured them some soda.

"You're welcome to stay the night, too. We've got a spare room for when Casey's mom visits. It is late," April said, putting the drinks between them.

"Yeah, I think I will, to make sure Lani gets on her way in the morning, and I'd hate to have to drive back to our place," she replied, sipping her cool soda as Casey called them over to start the movie. They sat in silence, a silence very different from the one April had found when she returned home. It was calm, comfortable even as they watched, the lights on this time, a fantasy world of pirates.

**End Chapter 15**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

A last, a new chapter!! And it is the final chapter of this part of the saga! We can all thank Fabian, my wonderfully patient Beta-reader, always catching my mistakes, that one:) Keep up the R/R, it makes me write faster;)

_Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.-Ralph Waldo Emerson _

**Chapter 16 – Encumbered Nonsense**

The night went on, not without a few extra, awkward exchanges between the Hinos and the mutants, but calmly enough for Casey's state of mind. Leo had actually started to enjoy himself after a stern look from his father, even going so far as to laugh aloud when Keith Richards made his appearance. When the movie had ended April and Mai disappeared to get the younger woman something to sleep in while the boys helped clean up the kitchen.

"Mikey, where's the foil, I wanna wrap the extra pizza up for tomorrow," Leo asked, his voice level and conversational. Mikey looked up from the dishes, his hands soapy, the front of his favorite shirt covered in water.

"Should be in the third drawer down by the cutting board," he said, unused to the Leo of the past few months being nice or helpful. He hoped that perhaps it meant he'd finally decided to stop with the Raph impression and start acting like their leader again; but he didn't hope too much. The girls had turned to go upstairs when Lani, one hand on the banister and the other coyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, decided to say something.

"Hey, Mikey?" she called, causing the turtle to whirl around, his soapy wet hands dripping water onto the kitchen floor.

"Uh, yeah?" he asked, his face flushing.

"I liked the coffee cookies," she stated with a toothy smile before biting her lip and rushing up the stairs. Casey shook his head, just one more couple he was gonna have to keep his eye on. When did he become an adult? After a few seconds of Mikey, a doofy smile plastered on his face, staring up after the Hawaiian girl Raph walked up to him. The older turtle grabbed his baby brother's shoulders, spun his around and said four words.

"Do the _Dishes_, Mikey," he chuckled, walking off and shaking his head with humor. Even Leo managed a chortle as their littlest brother mindlessly washed and dried the remaining dishes. Knowing the boys had everything in hand Casey wished Master Splinter, the rat already on his own way to bed, a good rest and headed off to his and April's room.

April was drying her face, having already changed into her sleepwear, as he sauntered into their room. Her hair was drawn up into the messy bun she preferred when relaxing and her feet bare on the bath mat by their his and hers sinks. He'd never told her but he loved those feet. Now he wasn't a 'foot guy' or anything; he just liked hers, she looked so vulnerable barefoot, somehow sweeter than she normally was. Although he knew that was just an illusion as during sparing sessions he'd been knocked out by those cute little feet many times. When he'd begun changing into his pjs she quietly, too quietly, crawled onto the bed and stared at him.

Casey could barely hear the soft overhead footfalls of the boys, their room directly above their own, shuffling off to bed while he went to brush his teeth. His nerves were directly related to the fidgeting woman sitting in her soft, green pajamas on their gray comforter. The cool neutral color of the fluffy bed covering was their first compromise when he'd moved in, he wanted black and she'd picked out this lavender flowered monstrosity; so gray with a small border of forget-me-nots had been what they'd purchased. He watched her in the mirror as she worked up the courage to ask whatever was occupying her mind. Looking around the room Casey felt something he hadn't in awhile; pride. He felt proud because this home had been an empty frame when April had bought it. He'd filled it up, building walls and shifting pipes to make up a home; even before April'd asked him to move in. He'd even put the bedroom upstairs, a small wish of a child someday, when things had cooled down with the Foot and if she'd have him. No child of his was going to suffer the same fate he had, the whispers of 'bastard son' from the old women gossiping in corner stores as he grew up. Finally he had pity on April when he noticed her chewing roughly on the insides of her mouth.

"Come on Ape, what's buggin' ya?" He asked in between spitting and starting to brush again. An electric charge, a hum like an old angry car engine shifted as she squirmed again her reflection in the mirror showing her as she bit her lower lip.

"You haven't been asking me about what Master Splinter and I talked about," she stated but Casey heard the silent, unspoken question in her voice; she wanted to know why he hadn't asked. Rinsing his mouth out Casey smiled at her veiled attempt at getting him to start the conversation.

"I figured you'd tell me when you was ready," he stated, watching her reaction in the mirror. She frowned petulantly, a heavy sigh escaping before she could stop it, " Alright, ya gonna tell me who called earlier?" Casey asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked, fidgeting with a wrinkle in the bead spread beneath her.

"Leo told me you were on the phone when he went down to talk with you, something about it upset ya; bad enough that ya needed ta talk with Master Splinter," he stated, crawling onto the bed beside her, crossing his legs, surprising even himself at his detective skills. They sat for a time neither one making a move to say anything until Casey reached across the small space separating them and pulled her to him, encircling her with his long arms. She lent back, tension seeping down and out of her body when he kissed the side of her neck then resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I talked with Phil," she began, "Charissa is contesting our adoption of Ellie," she gave a heavy breath, her voice sounding little like the stubborn woman he loved.

"Then we fight," Casey remarked firmly and without thought. April felt a warmth, a tightening in her chest at the lack of hesitation and the sureness in his tone.

"Have I told you I love you today?" she asked.

"You have now," he chuckled, kissing her softly against her jaw, "Anyways, no one's taking our girl,"

"You sure you feel that way, that she's ours?"

"As sure as I am 'bout anything," he stated firmly.

"Phil said that she's going to play us off as an unstable home for Ellie," April said after awhile.

"What? How are we unstable, you've owned this building for nearly two years, had your own, very successful, business for three. How's that unstable?" he questioned, his voice rising as he pulled back to look at her, she was holding something back, something he probably didn't want to hear.

"It's me, ain't it?" he asked quietly, "'Cause of my Record?"

"A little but it's more that we're not..." she paused.

"Married?" he stated, she grimaced waiting for his reaction. Waiting for him to push her away, to be angry or to laugh it all off. She was barely able to look him in the eye as she nodded. She nearly reached out for him when he pushed himself off the bed, tears threatening to find their way to the surface as he stood with his back to her. April felt her legs pulling into herself as Casey rummaged forcefully through his dresser. When he returned he knelt by the bed, pulling her to the edge and guiding her feet to the floor. Placing his warm hands on her bare knees he waited for her to look at him. Finally, when her eyes found his own, he smiled at her.

"Ape, baby-girl, you deserve candle light and wine and roses and all sorts of stuff like that. I'd wanted to give you all those pretty things. And I'd've thought of somethin' good to say 'cause you deserve someone who can make you feel as special as you are just by sayin' it. Sometimes I can't believes you ever agreed to be my girl," he said moving a hand to cup her cheek, "I love you April and I should tell you that more often. I want to tell you that everyday from here on out. Baby, will you marry me?" he asked with more sincerity than April had ever seen from him and it caught her throat. She nearly asked him if he was sure, if he was just doing this because of Ellie but she saw, somewhere in his eyes that he was. Completely unable to find her voice for the first time in a long time April just nodded, throwing herself at him. They both ended up in a tangle of limbs on the floor as she attempted to kiss him as senseless as she was.

"That a 'yes', baby-girl?" he asked with a laugh once he's sat them up, April in his lap, her bare, freckled arms around his neck playing with the ends of his low ponytail.

"Of course it is you big lug," she laughed sniffing just a little. With a wolfish grin he lowered his face, touching his forehead to hers before softly, chastely kissing her. He felt her smile when he removed her left arm from around his neck, his lips still moving against her own and slipped a ring onto her finger. He expected her to pull away to inspect the ring but he just chuckled when she tugged him on top of her, looping a leg around his back all the while deepening the kiss. When he finally pulled away, her hair had fought free of its bun and in a riot of ginger curls was manically fanned out on the blue shaggy area rug; her pale, freckled face flushed and her eyes a deeper shade of green than he'd seen in a long time. With a devious grin he gathered her up and tossed her back onto the bed. She shrieked with a laugh as she bounced twice before he was on her again, kissing down her neck slowing taking in the sweet, peachy smell of her skin and nuzzling the freckles that spilled down her chest and disappeared into her camisole. Her hands found his hair elastic and freed his long brown hair, smiling as it tickled her skin as he found her mouth again, rolling her on top of him. As she sat up, straddling him she finally took a moment to look at the ring he'd stealthily slipped on her finger.

The band was a simple thing of warm yellow gold, the light filigreed setting obviously very, very old. The stone looked like a new addition, not the typical diamond but her birthstone, an emerald. Casey had laughed when she'd told him that her parents had chosen her name when she was supposed to be born in April but had been a few weeks late arriving in early May. The oval cut gem sparkling in the overhead light.

"Casey Jones, it's so wonderful," she stated.

"The ring was my Gran's, she would have loved for you to have it. I know you don't like diamonds so I changed out the stone, it looks prettier with your coloring too," he said shyly, taking her hand to get a better look of it on her, "I got the stone from the guy you use for jewelry repair but had Donnie set it,"

"How long ago did you do this?" She asked.

"Last year sometime, I just been waitin' for the right time; sorry I wasn't brave enough 'til now," he whispered

"Case, you're one of the bravest men I know, and need I remind you of who we know," she stated pointedly looking up at the ceiling where you could still hear the boys moving around in their room. He smiled up at her with a look April couldn't put her finger on. Sitting up a bit he laced his fingers into her hair, a small pressure at the back of her skull asking her to meet him halfway. When they finally broke from each other their breathes were heavy and deep.

"We're wearing too much," April stated breathily. Casey nodded in agreement as they both scrambled with their sleep wear, each piece ending up on the floor. April keeping her position straddling him as the warm, summer night air hit their bare skin.

*

Shutting her door for the night, Ellie sighed, leaning her head back against the wood. Tonight, which had started out so wonderfully relaxing had ended in another heated confrontation with Leonardo and Mai and Lani finding out about the guys. A decidedly girlish giggle met her exasperated sound startling her eyes open to gap a Lani.

"What?!" she asked in a near whine.

"You like Raphael," Lani replied in a sing-song voice and a wide grin an her face as she bounced, cross-legged on Ellie's bed. The whites of Ellie's eyes grew wide in confusion as she joined Lani on the bed.

"What are you talking about, of course I like him, he's my friend," she denied the accusation confusedly as she crossed her own legs underneath her and giving Lani a playful push.

"Nope. You. Like. Him. You were giving him those same mournful puppy eyes you used to give John Alexander in the 8th grade," She teased.

"Lani for one, I don't _do_ puppy eyes, for another I'd hope that my flirting techniques, which I was in no way using, would have gotten better since 8th grade and John Alexander. And lastly, are you nuts?" She nearly screeched her final point but Lani just sat there with a big smile on her face.

"Like a macademia," she said, with a wicked grin a slight gap in between her front two teeth, "and I think it's sweet, he's all macho protective, he definitely likes you," she pointed out.

"He does?" Ellie whispered, her brows furrowed trying to imagine the tallest of the turtle brothers in that way and finding it easier than she would of normally thought. "You don't think the whole giant mutant turtle this is, you know, an issue?" she asked nervously, biting her lower lip and grabbing her ballet slipper pillow against her.

"Oh, it's an issue, but not one that really matters, just, you know, no public dates, but that isn't as important as the other stuff. Plus, I kinda think Mikey's cute," she stated in a rush, silently hoping that Ellie hadn't heard that last bit but knowing from her expression that she had.

"Mikey, big, blue eyes, baby faced Mikey?" she asked incredulously, "He's not exactly the type of guy you normally go for, well, besides the turtle part I mean,"

"I know, but something about those baby blues," Lani giggled, turning her head when she heard a thump outside their door.

I

*

Raph followed his brothers towards the Dojo, once again thanking Donnie's foresight for thinking of giving them beds to crash in if they stayed too late at April and Casey's. There'd been plenty a night he'd taken off after a fight with Leo and stayed a couple nights in his bunk instead of returning to the Lair. Launching himself up after Mikey, Raph took the steep stairs two at a time, and gave his little brother a playful push when he'd caught up to him. Mikey had stopped quite suddenly, pausing at Ellie's door and nearly causing Raph to bump into him.

"What's the hold up?" Raph proclaimed, waiting for his brother to move.

"Shh," Mikey whispered, "I heard your name," he stated, moving closer to the door, nearly pressing the side of his head to it. Rolling his eyes Raph nearly walked by his older brother until he too heard his name and spun quickly on his heel, nearly losing his balance to join his brother by the door. They were each having a difficult time making out the whole of it through the solid door when the girls were talking loudly. In an effort to hear them better Raph put his arm around his brother so they could both get closer to the door. This would have worked perfectly had Donnie not chosen that exact moment to clear his throat causing both Mikey and Raph to start and bang both their collective skulls into the door. Which was in short order ripped open by two pajama clad teenage girls who quickly found that two large ninja turtles weren't always graceful when the source of what was holding them upright is removed.

*

April leaned over to kiss Casey again when a large, heavy thump followed by a very horror movie, female screech from upstairs, broke them apart. Both adults jumped up, April throwing a robe on over her nearly nude body, as they ran upstairs followed with some trepidation by Maila, who had ripped open her own door at the scream. The sounds of a fight drifted from Ellie's room. Both her door and the door to the Dojo were wide open; Leo and Donnie standing in the hall. Leo had his arms crossed as he lent against the wall, a look of slight humor covering his feature, while Donnie peered into the girl's room , a fearful expression on his face.

When they had finally rounded the corner they froze at the sight before them. No Foot Clan ninjas or Purple Dragon attack as they had begun to assume on the way up. Nothing more than two teenage girls pummeling two mutant turtles into submission. Lani was standing on the bed swinging a pillow above her head to gain momentum before landing a hit directly on Mikey's head. Mikey, who had been attempting to dislodge Ellie from Raph's back, put two hand up in surrender. Ellie's long legs were wrapped around Raph's waist, her right hand holding desperately to his shell while she attacked him with a pillow of her own. And they all had grins plastered on their faces.

"Apologize, Raphael!" Ellie shouted between decidedly girlish giggles.

"Neva!" he laughed, truly laughed, no malice or condescension hidden in his voice as he twisted around trying to dislodge her.

"A gentleman shouldn't listen outside a lady's door, so say your sorry," Ellie gasped as he managed to grab a hold of the side of her night shirt and began pulling her off his back and onto his shoulder. It was at this point that Master Splinter, who only Leonardo had noticed coming in, roughly tapped his walking stick on the floor garnering everyone's attention suddenly.

"I do believe that will be enough," he stated calmly, displeasure written over his furry features. Everyone stopped mid motion, identical looks of humility and embarrassment covering all their faces. Lani, her eyes dropped to the floor in complete subjugation, stepped heavily down off the bed, dropping her pillow as Raphael lowered Ellie off his shoulder, gently depositing her to the floor in a standing position. All four of the teenagers looked nervous and unsure as Master Splinter strode into the room. Raph and Mikey's anxiety stemmed from a intimate knowledge of exactly what an upset Splinter was capable of, Ellie's fear came from hearing what the father figure's punishments were like and Lani... Lani was nervous because she hadn't thought the gentile rat could get upset.

"Now, I want everyone in bed, Miss Hino and Eileen have lessons to attend tomorrow; I will speak with you boys about your behavior in the morning. Now, move," he said, his voice stern but somehow soft as he spoke. The effect it had, however, was immediate. Both girls jumped into Ellie's queen size bed, while the boys darted past Splinter and all but ran into the Dojo. Raph didn't even whine, fearing a dressing down in front of the girls. On his way out of the room, Splinter switched off their lights and bid them a good night.

"Good night, Splinter," both girls chorused, still feeling severely like scolded three-year-olds.

**End Chapter 16 and this part of the story!**

**Be on the look out for the sequel, as of now untitled**


	17. Chapter 17

Coming Very, Very soon: The second installment of The Grief that Does Not Speak series! Look in my profile for the first chapter soon!

Loves,

~Psychobillybutterfly


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